If you can’t afford to buy a house in Edinburgh and at the same time you don’t want to waste money on renting a house, then rent to buy is the answer for you. Many people are resorting to this option because falling house prices and tight fisted lenders are preventing first time buyers to enter the market. The rent to buy scheme was introduced by the government to facilitate people. At the same time a number of homeowners and private house builders introduced their own versions of rent to buy. Some of these options are really attractive.

Private rent to buy option in Edinburgh
Many homeowners and private house builder have introduced this option as a way of receiving income to pay for their own mortgage and at the same time moving towards selling the property. One the big advantage for tenants and first time buyers in this is that the rent paid is returned; this can be added to the deposit later. Hence you can take advantage of these private schemes, provided that they earn enough to cover the mortgage.

However the downside of this option is that you will be a tenant until the time you complete the purchase. So you might be living in your own home, free to use it in any way you like but your status will be of a tenant till complete payment.

There are many private rent to buy schemes and it is important that you seek help of a solicitor who can scrutinize the details and inform you of what you are putting yourself into.

Government rent to buy scheme
This is introduced by the government to buy the unsold developer stock and bring it for sale in the affordable housing sector. The main distinction between the two schemes is that in the government scheme you will be paying a discounted rent and not a market rent.

The way this scheme works is that you will rent a property in a development with the purpose of buying it, in a certain time span, anticipated to be three years. You will have to pay around 80% of the market rent or less; this means you can easily save for the deposit. Once you have collected the deposit by the end of defined period, you can buy a share in the property. You will now be on shared ownership and pay an affordable rent on the rest of the property.

The downside of this scheme is that if you cannot proceed with the purchase, the tenancy will not be renewed and eventually you will have to move out. Moreover this is aimed at first time buyers, earning about £60,000 and cannot afford to buy a property in the area that suites them.

Adrian Morrison is a marketing officer for Greenlet, property lettings website in Edinburgh. If you want more information on rent in edinburgh, please visit edinburgh flats to rent.