Pounds 120-a-week rents in Westminster to get young workers on
0 Comments | Evening Standard; London (UK), Nov 19, 2009 | by Ruth Bloomfield
YOUNG professionals struggling to get on the property ladder are being offered knock-down rents in some of London’s most sought after neighbourhoods.
In a groundbreaking Pounds 7 million scheme, Westminster council is targeting those who earn up to Pounds 30,000 a year but cannot put money aside for a deposit to buy a house because rents are so high. Tenants who sign up will pay heavily subsidised rents — up to 67 per cent off the market value. They will be expected to put aside the money they save for a deposit.
Flats will be let out to each person for a maximum of five years. Residents will also qualify for a Pounds 500 “incentive payment” each year if they stick to the terms of their tenancy agreement, collectable when they move out. They can only take advantage of the scheme once.
There is no obligation for tenants to put aside money each month, and nor do they have to spend their savings or bonus payments on buying a home.
The trial — the first of its kind — is open to single people earning up to Pounds 30,000 or couples who together earn Pounds 40,000. Priority will be given to council and housing association tenants, followed by people on the waiting list, Westminster residents, and those who work in the borough.
Westminster is buying 30 former council properties for the trial; tenants will be charged rents as low as Pounds 120 a week for period homes in areas such as Bayswater, Pimlico, Marylebone and Westbourne Park. That is less than a third of the Pounds 365 average market rent for one-bedroom flats in these areas. No tenant will pay more than Pounds 140 per week
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