Chris Borthwick writes articles covering a broad range of subjects. His main area of expertise is mortgage advice and writes many articles on mortgages for finance industry, mortgage brokers and for the general public.
First of a quick intro for those not completely familiar with the LIFT scheme, LIFT stands for Low Cost Initiative for First Time Buyers. It’s the Scottish Government’s scheme to help first time buyers purchase their first home of they are unable to afford a mortgage on their own. Every applicant will be income assessed as the scheme is for low to moderate income individuals or families. There hasn’t been any exact criteria released however if you made mortgage applications before and haven’t been approved for any then that would be a good indication for acceptance to the lift scheme. Social landlords that administer the scheme will decide whether you are eligible. Before you do apply the first stage is to have decided on the area that you want to live in as the social landlords administer different zones. It is also important to find at least one home that you would like to buy the reason for this is once a LIFT application is approved you only have twelve weeks to use your given allowance before it ends and you will need to reapply for the scheme. The next step is to ensure you are going to bid on an eligible home. You are allowed to have one more room that the occupant number so for example if there is an adult and a child moving into the property then you are allowed to put in bids for homes with three homes. Bear in mind that living rooms are included as a room, bathrooms and kitchens aren’t so in the example you can have a two bedroom house and a living room. There are also price bands dependant on the area you will live in and the number going to occupy the property so do check this to save yourself time. Finally ensure that you are able to afford your share of the lift scheme property. It will be up to the social landlord to decide how much they will lend to you, normally this will be between twenty and forty per cent however in certain circumstances they will be willing to lend more. However the buyer must be the main stakeholder in the property.
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