A HOUSING developer is to allow potential buyers to live in its new properties free of charge for six months to help them save for a deposit.
Mactaggart & Mickel's scheme, aimed at first-time buyers struggling to secure a mortgage, is designed to help to re-ignite the Capital's flagging property market.
Although the buyer pays a monthly rent at a market rate, such as around £700 for a t
wo-bedroom flat, they get all the rent back at the end of the six months if they can use it to help them secure a mortgage.
The "rent to buy" scheme, which is available at the company's Hillpark development in Blackhall and at Woodlands in Loanhead, has been hailed by mortgage brokers as an "innovative" way to help overcome the shortage of mortgage availability for those who can't put down at least ten per cent of a property's value as a deposit.
It is among a growing number of incentives being offered by developers to try to encourage people to buy during the economic downturn.
Ed Monaghan, managing director at M&M, said: "From our perspective, we might be in a downturn but we've been through it before.
"We've been around for 80 years and we are in a position to look back at other downturns and see that people did still buy homes, albeit fewer of them. There is still a market for property, and people will still buy. Our focus is on encouraging them to do so."
Jenny Harvie, marketing co-ordinator at M&M, said: "The rent to buy initiative allows customers who might not think about buying their own home to take that important first step. It's also a helping hand for those keen to get on the housing ladder in this challenging market."
M&M is among a number of developers offering incentives to buyers. At Barratt's West One development off Slateford Road, buyers can buy 50 per cent of two-bedroom flats for half price then have the option for two years of buying the other half.
Westpoint Homes has also offered to pay deposits for buyers of its properties at Hawkhill Avenue.
Prices of new-build homes have also been slashed across the city.
Craig Esplin, mortgage broker at Edinburgh-based Fair Deal Mortgages, said the M&M deal was "innovative and sensible" in current market conditions. He said: "For somebody currently renting from a landlord, it costs £500, £600 or £700 to rent anyway yet they get nothing for it. For them, this would be a win-win situation. At worst, if they still can't get a mortgage, they've only paid six months' rent, which they would have anyway."
The full article contains 455 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
