Owners of vacant Plymouth properties are being offered a much-improved incentive to bring their house back into use with the repair and rent scheme.
Plymouth City Council is re-launching the Repair and Rent scheme, aimed at property owners who may not have the time, skills or confidence to renovate a house themselves.
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Landlords can now borrow up to £50,000 from the council interest free with a 20 per cent grant element, improving the offer from the previous £20,000 cap.
As part of the repair and rent scheme, local property agent Plymouth Homes 4 Let (PH4L) will help manage a schedule of works before putting them out to tender on the landlord’s behalf. They will then manage the renovation, arrange occupation and rental collection which will be used to repay the loan to the council.
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The owner will then sign a sole agency agreement with PH4L to rent at Local Housing Allowance rates. In return, 20 per cent of the renovation cost will be in the form of a non-repayable grant. Previously, the repair and rent scheme required a property to have been empty for at least a year, but the criteria has now been reduced to six months.
More information is available at www.plymouth.gov.uk/emptyhomes
