Scottish Government Housing Initiatives

Do you want to buy your own home but don’t think you can afford to pay the full price? The LIFT Open Market Shared Equity (OMSE) scheme could help.

The LIFT OMSE scheme helps first-time buyers, and other priority groups including current local authority and housing association tenants, get onto the property ladder. The Scottish Government provides funding of between 10% and 40% of the property valuation or sale price (whichever is lower) and gets the same percentage back when the property is sold. In most areas, you can choose to increase your share in the future.   

In addition to first time buyers, the following groups get priority access to the scheme:   

• Social renters   
• People with a disability who can demonstrate a housing need  
• Members of the armed forces    
• Veterans who have left the armed forces within the past two years   
• Widows, widowers and other partners of service personnel who have lost their life while serving in the armed forces within the last two years    
• People aged over 60 who can demonstrate a housing need   

If you are aged over 60, you can apply using savings and sale proceeds rather than a mortgage if you can demonstrate at least one of the following criteria: 

• You are living in a property that is too large and you need to downsize 
• You need to move closer to family or friends to receive care and support
• Your existing property is no longer suitable e.g. due to stairs 
• You are living in private rented accommodation 

You can offer over valuation when purchasing a property through LIFT as long as the price paid does not exceed the threshold for the area and property size. You must fund the offers over amount yourself.

When buying through the LIFT scheme, you choose a property for sale on the open market. You can purchase any size of property as long as it is large enough to avoid overcrowding. To be eligible, the property must be: 

• Advertised for sale publicly e.g. on a website or social media site, and 
• Have a sale price (including any amount paid over valuation) within the maximum threshold for the area. 

Price Thresholds in Shetland

Property price thresholds have increased, meaning a higher number of properties in the area could be eligible to purchase through the scheme. 

Threshold prices in Shetland:

* An apartment is classified as any habitable room, but does not include kitchens; open plan kitchen/dining or kitchen/living rooms; bathrooms; box rooms; utility rooms; or hallways. Glass conservatories do not qualify as an apartment. For example, a three-apartment property could have two bedrooms and a living room. 

LIFT Example

A family of three with a household income of £32,400 purchased a 2-bedroom home in Shetland with the help of LIFT.  

Property valuation: £135,000

Sales price: £140,000 (including amount offered over valuation)  

Scottish Government contribution: £54,000 (40%)

Buyer contribution (mortgage and deposit): £81,000 (60%)

In this example, the buyer contributed £5,000 of savings to offer over the valuation price. The Scottish Government contributed 40% of the property price and will get the same percentage back when the property is sold. The buyer can choose to increase their share in the property over time.  

Link Housing administer the LIFT scheme on behalf of the Scottish Government for the whole of Scotland; applications to the scheme are made through Link’s dedicated LIFT team.  

Visit www.linkhousing.org.uk/LIFT or contact lift@linksharedequity.co.uk or 0330 303 0124 for more information on the LIFT scheme or to apply online.