The Mayor of London, , has today launched a new online
property portal that offers Londoners a one-stop shop where they
can search for an affordable home to buy in the capital.
As the Mayor’s official platform for finding an affordable home
to buy in London, the Homes for Londoners portal already lists
over 1,400 shared ownership and 230 Help to Buy properties.
Currently in its first phase, the portal aims to help Londoners
who can’t afford to buy a home on the open market, with all homes
funded through City Hall affordable housing programmes being
advertised on the site and new properties being continually
added.
The Mayor is urging Londoners to visit london.gov.uk/homes to
sign up for free and register an account, through which they can:
- receive email alerts for the latest properties in their area;
- register their interest in homes;
- check their eligibility;
- book viewings; and
- receive an online financial affordability assessment.
The Mayor of London, , said: “Here at City Hall, we’re
doing everything we can to make sure all Londoners are able to
buy a good-quality, affordable place to live in the city to call
home. The Homes for Londoners website is a fantastic one-stop
shop, bringing together affordable homes into one place for
people who would struggle to buy in the open market. More and
more homes will be added to the portal, so I urge Londoners to
get online, set up a free account, and start browsing.”
Louise Marshall, Head of Sales and Marketing at Moat Housing,
said: “The Home for Londoners portal is clean, fresh and easy to
use, and we really like the Featured Properties section because
it gives providers the opportunity to showcase their homes. The
portal’s support team are incredibly helpful and supportive and
really try to tailor their service to suit the needs of their
clients. It’s also good value for us, as we are able to reach a
huge target market. I’d definitely recommend the portal to other
housing providers as a great place to showcase their homes -
there’s a huge demand out there.”
Tomas Rakauskas, who has reserved a home through the portal at
Kidbrooke Village in Greenwich, said: “The Homes for Londoners
property portal is simple to use and the search functionality is
great. The housing associations details were easy to find, so
arranging a property viewing was straightforward. The housing
association also recommended mortgage providers and solicitors
which helped us a lot in the process. I’d highly recommend using
the Homes for Londoners portal.”
The portal will list genuinely affordable homes to buy that have
been built through the Mayor’s Homes for Londoners programme.
Last year (2017/2018) his programme saw 12,526 genuinely
affordable homes started – more than in any year since City Hall
took control of housing investment. Around half these homes were
for affordable homeownership, alongside 2,826 new homes based on
social rent levels – up from zero homes for social rent in the
pipeline inherited from the previous Mayor.
Further phases of the portal will launch later this year,
including below-market rental properties. The portal is on the
Mayor’s website alongside his new online Rogue Landlord and Agent
Checker – a publicly accessible tool to enable London’s 2.4
million renters to check if their prospective landlord or agent
has been convicted of any housing offences, and to report any
suspected rogue private landlord or letting agent to their local
council.
ENDS
Notes to Editors:
- The first phase of Homes for Londoners portal became live in
April and the property search tool can be viewed
at: https://www.london.gov.uk/homes
- The Mayor’s Rogue Landlord and Agent Checker is available
here: www.london.gov.uk/rogue-landlord-checker.
- To find out more about what the Mayor is doing to tackle
London's housing crisis and the affordable housing opportunities
Londoners can take advantage of, visit the Mayor’s brand new
housing hub at www.london.gov.uk/building-a-london-for-everyone.
- The property portal has been delivered in partnership between
the Greater London Authority, Full Communications and Censeo
Financial.
