Military get top priority for housing help
Monday, 23 May 2011 12:30 PM
Members of the Armed Forces will get priority for help with buying a home and more help with getting a mortgage under a new government deal.
Housing minister Grant Shapps said serving and recently retired military personnel will get top priority under FirstBuy, a £400 million scheme that will offer equity loans to help 10,000 people buy a home.
And they will now be routinely placed at the top of the list for all of the government’s low cost home ownership schemes, with housing agents instructed to go out and actively recruit them.
Following the Military Covenant Housing Summit that Shapps chaired last week, the government will also work with credit agencies and the Royal Mail to ensure that people living on a base or serving abroad are not disadvantaged when applying for a mortgage.
The minister said: “This government is not in the business of giving out pointless sympathy or hand outs. Instead we're pulling out all the stops to give our brave armed forces a helping hand onto the property ladder.
“Our armed forces are being moved to the very front of the queue. And when the first keys to these new FirstBuy homes are handed over in September, I want to ensure that the brave and loyal men and women who serve in our armed forces, and have put their lives on the line to preserve our freedom and way of life, have had an opportunity to benefit.”
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