London Living Rent Eligibility
Are you looking into London Living Rent homes but not sure if you are eligible? Read our complete guide to London Living Rent eligibility to find out all you need to know.
What is the eligibility criteria for London Living Rent?
London Living Rent is a Government-backed scheme that’s helped thousands of people get their foot on the property ladder. With reduced rental costs, you can save money every month and put it aside for a deposit to buy your own home. There are some general criteria that you must meet to be eligible for London Living Rent;
✔ Your household income is not more than £60,000
✔ You are currently renting or living with family & friends
✔ You do not currently own a property
✔ You live in a London Borough
✔ You do not already have sufficient savings to buy a home in the local area
✔ You have a good track record of savings
✔ You can show that you can obtain a mortgage based on your current credit report
✔ You can pass money laundering and fraud checks
✔ You can get a good tenancy reference from your current address.
Does London Living Rent eligibility vary by development?
All applicants who are interested in London Living Rent will need to meet the basic eligibility criteria as shown above. There are times when some additional eligibility criteria will apply depending on the development you are looking to buy.
Some developments will only be available to buy by someone who either lives or works in the same London borough as the development. For example, if a London Living Rent home is located in Hammersmith and Fulham, you may only be eligible if you already live or work in this borough.
We therefore recommend that you check the eligibility criteria for each individual London Living Rent development when searching for new homes.
How does London Living Rent priority work?
London Living Rent is available to anyone that meets the eligibility criteria for an available property.
As some of our London Living Rent developments can be very popular and at times, receive more reservations than we have homes available, we use a scoring system to prioritise certain people to ensure that our homes go to those most in need.
On some occasions there may be additional priorities set by the Local Authority which will then override our standard Allocation Policy.
For more information about how we prioritise London Living Rent homes or London Living Rent eligibility criteria, speak to our team.
To make sure properties go to those most in need, priority will be given in the following order.
✔ Military personnel
✔ Existing Council and Housing Association tenants as this will release a home to someone else who needs social housing
✔ Applicants that do not currently own a home
After the initial priority groups have been considered, applications will then be prioritised based on:
✔ People who live and work within the same borough of the home they wish to reserve
✔ People with a larger household size i.e. families
✔ People on the lowest income, but still able to afford the property
✔ People with a good tenancy reference from their current address
What if I'm not eligible for London Living Rent?
There are some strict eligibility criteria you have to meet to apply for London Living Rent homes.
However, if your household income is above £60,000 but less than £90,000 or you have a larger deposit, you may be able to buy a home through Shared Ownership straight away.
With Shared Ownership, you buy a share in the home (usually 25% initially) and pay rent on the share you don't own. This means you need a much smaller deposit compared to buying on the open market.
Discover a range of Shared Ownership homes available to view now.
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London Living Rent is funded by the Mayor and it's a type of intermediate affordable housing for middle-income Londoners who want to build up savings to buy a home. London Living Rent is designed to help people transition from renting to shared ownership meaning that money you save on rent can go towards a deposit for your own home.
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