It is based on a 5 year assured shorthold tenancy agreement (AST), ahead of the new FSA regulations which come into force on 30th June this year.
The new scheme, which replaces Residential Property Solutions’ existing sale & rent back product options, enables tenants to benefit from the security of a 5 year AST, with purchase prices being offered up to 75% of the value of their property. Tenants will have a legally binding option to buy back their home at any time during their 5 year tenancy agreement and will also benefit from a free legal service and no requirement to pay up-front fees.
To refer business to Residential Property Solutions Ltd, brokers do not need to be regulated - either now or after 30th June - provided they do not give advice or a recommendation to their clients (which will be provided by Residential Property Solutions).
Pete Thomson, managing director of Residential Property Solutions, said: “The CML’s latest repossession figures confirm that approximately 50,000 homeowners will have their properties repossessed this year. To date, the government mortgage rescue scheme has helped just 628 homeowners and lender forbearance schemes have simply delayed the inevitable.
“If a client is experiencing financial difficulties, our new fully compliant sale and rent back scheme gives them a 5 year window of opportunity to get their finances back on track, without needing to move home. Surely, that has to be an option well worth exploring?
“Brokers now have plenty of good reasons to take sale and rent back seriously. The sale and rent back market is about to become fully regulated, it provides homeowners facing repossession with a practical solution to their financial predicament and it enables brokers to generate valuable additional income.”
Residential Property Solutions has also enhanced its online product calculator, which enables brokers to get an indication of the purchase price it’s willing to offer and the yield a specific deal will generate. The calculator will help brokers decide if sale and rent back will be appropriate to individual clients and whether they should be referred to Residential Property Solutions.
Thomson concluded: “Feedback from brokers has been extremely encouraging and introducers tell us this is exactly what the sale and rent back market needs, in order to give both them and their clients confidence to commit to SRB ahead of the new regulations coming into effect on 30th June.”
Although sale & rent back is frequently thought of as a solution for homeowners facing financial difficulties, RPS says that many of the applications it receives do not involve financial distress. To help introducers better understand the circumstances in which sale & rent back may be an appropriate solution, RPS has added a series of real-life case studies to the introducers section of its website: www.therpsgroup.co.uk
