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UKIP fails in anti-council mortgage scheme bid
Essex first-time buyers will receive help from a local authority scheme after UKIP attempts to prevent it were defeated.
Councillor Roger Lord had forced the council to reconsider the plan to help first-time buyers with their deposits on the grounds it promoted risky behaviour.
But on Friday members of the county council corporate scrutiny committee voted 12-1 in favour of the scheme, the Daily Gazette reported.
Under the local authority mortgage scheme, the council will act as a guarantor for local first-time buyers, allowing them to apply for a mortgage from certain lenders with a 5% deposit.
The Essex branch of UKIP had argued the scheme encouraged borrowers who would otherwise not be offered a mortgage to take out 95% loan-to-value loans.
However, Essex County Council leader David Finch denied this and told Mortgage Solutions the scheme had been tried and tested by 93 other local authorities: “We are just trying to help people get on the property ladder. People who own property generally spend money on refurbishments and contribute to the local economy.”
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