Can I apply for the loan equity scheme yet?

Q For the past 10 years I have been living in a privately rented house but my landlord now wishes to sell it and I have two months to find alternative accommodation.

My boyfriend and I are now thinking about buying somewhere together. He is employed, as am I, but between us we only earn around £24,000. At present this is not sufficient to buy a decent house in Lancaster.

Has Gordon Brown already begun his loan equity scheme? I cannot find any estate agents that have even heard of it.

MP

A The short answer is: no. Gordon Brown has not already started the loan equity scheme which he announced on April 1 2005 (although it's actually part of an initiative from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister).

The earliest the new 50/50 shared-ownership scheme - a government-backed scheme which aims to extend shared ownership to the private sector with the help of mortgage lenders - will start is April 2006. But there's no guarantee that it will even start then as the scheme is still at the consultation stage (which ends this week).

There's also no guarantee that even if you waited until next April to buy a place that you would be eligible for the scheme. It has been estimated that the scheme will help only around 20,000 new homebuyers each year and it may be restricted to key workers to start off with - although the detail has not yet been finalised.

On a more positive note, you may not need to wait until the new scheme is available. You may still be able to buy a property under the existing shared ownership scheme which enables people in housing need to buy a part share in a property from a social landlord. You can get more information on this scheme from the Housing Corporation.