L&Q: Shared Ownership and Help to Buy homes available across London

A range of incentives available for first time buyers across the capital this January

Whether your new year’s resolution is to take up guitar, practice yoga or improve your cooking skills, for the time being at least, you will be doing it at home – which is why it’s more important than ever to have a home you love.   

L&Q are helping hundreds of first time buyers find their dream home in London, with a wide selection of properties available through both Shared Ownership and Help to Buy across the north, south, east and west of the capital. With exclusive incentives available for a limited time only, including up to £1,500 towards your moving costs, L&Q are making it that bit easier to get onto the property ladder.  

Shared Ownership makes it possible to own your home – even if you feel priced out of the property market. It’s an affordable home ownership scheme designed as a stepping-stone to outright ownership if you can’t afford to buy a home on the open market.

Under the Shared Ownership scheme, you part-own and part-rent your home, and you can purchase as little as 25%. You only pay a deposit on the share you are purchasing, and only require a mortgage that covers your share – two financial considerations than can often make buying a home unaffordable for many. As and when you can afford to, you can purchase additional shares in your property through a process called staircasing, until you own your home outright and no longer pay any rent. 

Homeowners Andrew and Kat recently purchased a 50% share of a two bedroom duplex apartment at Churchfield Quarter, one of L&Q’s West London developments.

The couple explain, “We can’t express the joy of moving from a rental property to a home we own. It’s so freeing to have a place which is actually ours, where we can truly relax. We would recommend Shared Ownership in a heartbeat – it’s enabled us to buy our dream home in West London.”  

Another scheme popular with first time buyers is the Help to Buy Equity Loan, a government-backed scheme aimed at first time buyers looking to buy a newly built home. The scheme helps to keep your mortgage payments lower by boosting your deposit. It also delivers other benefits, such as giving you access to a wider range of mortgage products.

If you can offer a deposit of 5% of the home’s total value then you can borrow up to 40% in London of your home’s value from the government. This loan is interest-free for the first five years. To be eligible for Help to Buy in London, the property must be priced below £600,000 and must be a new build.  

We have rounded up our favourite L&Q developments across London, where buyers can currently benefit from exclusive incentives if they reserve by the end of January.  

In East London, change is afoot in Canning Town. An ambitious £3.7bn regeneration programme is transforming this transport hotspot into a vibrant community, with new homes, open spaces, restaurants, cafés, shops and creative workspaces. Minutes from Canning Town tube station, L&Q have recently launched Shared Ownership apartments at Brunel Street Works. Each home features private outdoor space, generous living areas with ample room to work from home, and tonnes of communal facilities such as a landscaped podium garden and roof terrace.  

For buyers searching for a waterside retreat in East London’s newest cultural quarter, L&Q are currently marketing a range of one to three bedroom apartments through Help to Buy at Lock No. 19 Situated in Hackney Wick along the River Lea waterfront, residents have a plethora of cafés, restaurants, bars and art galleries all within minutes, as well as Hackney Wick station for fast journeys to Liverpool Street. With private balconies to some homes overlooking the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the private outdoor space is the perfect spot for a home workout.  

Over in West London, L&Q at Regency Heights is a collection of one to three bedroom Shared Ownership apartments in the heart of a £26 billion regeneration plan for Old Oak and Park Royal. The largest regeneration scheme since the Olympic Park, this new district will ultimately deliver 25,000 homes over the next four decades, as well as huge investment in transport, infrastructure, arts and culture. Featuring spacious and bright rooms, the apartments offer the perfect base to transform your new home with some personal touches.  

Meanwhile in up-and-coming Acton, L&Q at Acton Gardens is an award winning urban village, where a range of two bedroom apartments are available through Shared Ownership. Designed to help encourage a sociable and close-knit community, the development places community integration at the forefront, delivering a wide range of public facilities for residents including several communal gardens, a new sports ground and a shopping plaza. 

Heading to South London, L&Q has a collection of one to three bedroom Shared Ownership apartments in Greenwich Square. Ideal for ecological lovers, the development is centred around a green square, as well as being moments from Greenwich’s famed Royal Park. Residents are also neighbours with the Greenwich Centre, with its two swimming pools, state-of-the-art gym, crèche, modern library and medical centre. Featuring contemporary kitchens with plenty of worktop space, the homes are ideal for perfecting your culinary skills in your new home!  

In Wandsworth, Wandsworth Exchange is an impressive collection of 172 homes in the heart of this popular area. With homes available through both Shared Ownership and private sale, new residents have fantastic amenities on their doorstep such as Southside Shopping Centre and King George’s Park, and can enjoy being a short walk from Wandsworth Town where trains to Waterloo take just 14 minutes.   

Last but by no means least, North London is home to L&Q at Ridgeway Views in Mill Hill. Surrounded by picturesque rolling hills, this development feels miles away from the hustle and bustle of central London, despite enjoying fast links into the city. L&Q’s range of one to three bedroom Shared Ownership apartments each feature high quality living spaces and private outdoor space, and residents have access to a communal garden, gym and concierge.  

Nearby at L&Q at Millbrook Park is a range of one to three bedroom Shared Ownership homes. Minutes from Mill Hill East station, where journeys to Kings Cross St. Pancras take just 23 minutes, residents have central London on their doorstep, whilst enjoying fantastic access to local green space. An extraordinary six hectares of parks and open space accompany these new homes, on top of numerous parks located nearby, so whether it’s a stroll outdoors or a home workout, these homes offer plenty of choice for those wanting to get active in 2021.  

Visit lqhomes.com/londonoffers to see the full range of L&Q developments, and reserve by Sunday 31st January to benefit from up to £1,500 off your moving costs on selected homes.  

Share to Buy is a one stop shop for affordable homes. On our website, you can search for properties, compare mortgages and find out all you need to know about alternative home buying schemes such as Shared Ownership and Help to Buy via our FAQs and guides.