Veterans WORLD 8 - Features

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FORCES HOUSING - THE KEY TO RAF VETERAN’S NEW HOME

Daryl Daffin, RAF veteran, got on the property ladder with the help of Forces Housing’s Home Ownership Plan.

Daryl Daffin, RAF veteran, got on the property ladder with the help of Forces Housing’s Home Ownership Plan. Having recently retired after serving twenty years in the RAF, the last six of which I spent at Joint Support Unit Corsham, I wanted to buy a house for me and my family to live in. I’ve returned to the MOD as Headquarters Coordinator at Corsham and my wife runs the coffee shop in the Hive. However, I was struggling to afford anything suitable nearby with a conventional mortgage. I heard about the Home Ownership Plan from Forces Housing at a Joint Services Housing Advice Office (JSHAO) briefing in Tidworth. I knew it was the answer to my housing problems.

I filled in the application form and received a letter back showing the maximum I could borrow. I was also allocated a personal advisor who helped me understand what was involved. Home Ownership Plan is a shared equity mortgage scheme that is available to Forces personnel, MOD civilian staff and veterans. It involves a loan element, which is fixed at a low rate for the life of the mortgage. This basically gives you more money to go house hunting with. The benefit is, you own 100% of the property and can choose any property you want.

I received my mortgage offer and within two months we had exchanged contracts on a three-bedroom house. There is no way I could have afforded this house with a conventional mortgage.

The best news is we’ll never have to ‘march out’ again. Prior to arriving at Corsham we’d moved four times in five years, so we’re looking forward to decorating this house just as we want it…and not moving for a very long time!

For more information visit
www.forceshousing.com or call 0870 428 7884

Email enquiries on veterans issues to: veterans.help@spva.gsi.gov.uk

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