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Abandoned shops and disused car parks could soon be transformed into property havens for first time buyers, according to the Guardian.
In their quest to help first time buyers make an affordable leap onto the property ladder, Wandsworth Council are launching their Hidden Homes Scheme. A Project dedicated to converting abandoned shops, properties and car parks into luxurious apartments.
Boarded-up properties, abandoned shops and disused car parks may not sound like pleasant places to live, but one housing association thinks these derelict spaces could help first-time buyers take an affordable leap on to the property ladder.
Notting Hill Housing (NHH), one of the largest housing associations in the country, has just spent nine months converting a disused, dark and dingy car park in Putney, south-west London, into 10 spacious and bright apartments which no longer betray any sign of their former dilapidated existence.
The development in Cambalt Road is part of Wandsworth council's Hidden Homes scheme - a project which scouts out disused properties such as sheds, garages and old boiler rooms on local authority land and transforms them into apartments.
Mark Vaughan, director of home ownership at NHH, says: "This idea of recycling existing buildings could be rolled out as a model across the country."
The Empty Homes Agency, an independent charity which highlights the waste and inefficiency of derelict properties in England, is also encouraging local communities to work together and make more efficient use of wasted space in neighbourhoods.
Henry Oliver, policy adviser at Empty Homes, says: "A lot of new developments end up wasting space, and it is far more efficient to maximise what is already available. There is a huge amount of space going begging everywhere - places such as empty offices and upper floors above shops which could have a residential use."
To date, Hidden Homes conversions have only been available as social housing stock from local authorities; Southwark council has also earmarked empty launderettes and unused offices as spaces to be converted and remodelled into residential properties. But the 10 properties in Cambalt Road are the first to be available to first-time buyers via the New Build HomeBuy scheme.
Full market prices start from £213,000, but under the shared-ownership scheme first-time buyers can purchase a minimum 25% share worth £53,250 on which they must take a mortgage, and pay a rent on the remainder.
Providers offering mortgages on New Build HomeBuy schemes include HSBC, Abbey and Leeds building society.