Former Grenfell residents offered new ways to become homeowners

The government plans to roll out two special schemes to help to former residents of Grenfell Tower and nearby Grenfell Walk to buy their own homes both inside and outside the borough, in addition to the statutory Right to Buy scheme.

The former residents received a letter signed by communities secretary James Brokenshire and Kim-Taylor Smith, the head of Kensington and Chelsea council – where the Grenfell block in which a fire killed 72 people two years ago was located – outlining the two additional options.

One option allows the social housing tenant to purchase a share in the home they now live in, while the other assists them to buy outright a home “anywhere in the country, other than the home you currently live in”.

The letter says that this second option, called the “enhanced portable discount”, developed by the council, “may help if you would prefer to buy your home outright”.

Details on the discount scheme “will be available shortly”, the letter said.

The other option, the “Grenfell assisted home ownership scheme”, developed by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, would enable residents to buy a share in their current home equivalent to the value of their previous Grenfell home.

A housing association would continue to own the remaining share, but residents would not be required to pay rent on that portion of the property. The government said residents would not be required to pay services charges higher than would have been the case previously.

In the letter Brokenshire said more details of the portable discount option would be made available later in the year.

The minister said the schemes had been “specifically designed for Grenfell residents to ensure that those who would like to own their own their home have a route onto the housing ladder at a similar cost to before the tragedy”.