Date published: 16 October 2020
Last summer, Nicholas Harris, Chief Executive at Stonewater, made an announcement that changed the lives of many of his colleagues. To truly champion Stonewater’s mission of giving everyone the opportunity of having a place that they can call home, Nicholas announced that a new programme will be launching – a specialist Shared Ownership scheme – exclusively for colleagues – myOwnHome.
Despite home ownership being an aspiration for many who worked at Stonewater, rising property prices in high-value areas like Reading and Bristol, meant it was an ever-fading dream.
Nicholas said: “Given current land prices, Stonewater is not looking to build new homes in those locations, meaning colleagues in these areas are not able to take advantage of the company’s standard Shared Ownership schemes.
“This just didn’t seem right. I wanted to find a way to not only support our customers getting onto the property ladder, but our hardworking colleagues too. myOwnHome works by giving eligible colleagues the opportunity to choose a home that is available on the open market, either a new build or re-sale, which Stonewater then purchases on their behalf.
“Colleagues then have the option to buy a share of their home, ranging from 25 to 75 per cent, depending on what’s affordable to them, and then they pay discounted rent on the remaining share.”
Following the announcement, one colleague in particular was moved to tears. Before joining the organisation as a Retirement Living Team Leader – South in 2015, Linda Rayfield had sadly lost her daughter and her marriage had broken down. Following her divorce, finding a home was a challenge.
Linda said: “Before joining Stonewater, I moved around for a few years and finally settled in Bexhill, East Sussex. Given the location and that I was living by myself, I could only really afford to live in flats. I’d like to be able to say they were still nice places to live, but in my case they were awful.
“There were recurring issues with each of them – mainly poor insulation - which meant being woken up constantly during the night because of the neighbours above me using their bathroom or their children crying. People also played loud music and it became a lot to endure. I soon became unwell and found myself battling depression.
“To top it off, I had to move three times over the course of five years due to my landlords selling their properties. I received notice for the third time last June, 15 months after moving in and had until August to find another home."
Nicholas announced myOwnHome at Stonewater’s company day in July that year, not long after Linda had received her notice. Here, Nick explained how home ownership can play a vital role in providing stability and contributing to health and well-being. As part of Stonewater’s commitment to providing high-quality homes to those that need them the most, Stonewater was launching the first of its kind - specialist Shared Ownership scheme for its own employees.
“I’m used to shedding a tear at our company days,” continued Linda. “Last year, the team shared a video with us about hidden homeless, which left me in floods of tears but when myOwnHome was announced, I was overwhelmed. I felt like I’d been thrown a lifeline.
“I learnt more about the scheme on our intranet and couldn’t stop thinking that there had to be a catch. It was affordable and I could do it by myself, so when the scheme went live on August 1st, I was up at 6am, ready to submit my application.”
Linda received confirmation that she’d been successful for the scheme at the end of that month. Shared Ownership is usually funded by a Government grant at a 12.5 per cent cost, but for this scheme Stonewater will subsidise the scheme. Any surplus made will be invested so Stonewater can building more social housing.
This scheme, however, has been limited to Board funding of £5 million for this financial year and will be assessed and used to influence any requests for Board funding in subsequent years.
“The day I received confirmation, I also received notification from a site I’d signed up to showing that a beautiful house had been listed on the market,” she said. “I arranged a viewing immediately. It was exactly what I’d hoped for, it had a spacious kitchen and living area, and a conservatory - all reminding me of happier times.
“The cherry on the cake, if it could get any better was the size of the garden! Gardening and cooking are the two passions in my life and something that has become crucial to keeping my spirits and wellbeing high.
“I absolutely fell in love with it and put in an offer. When I found out it has been accepted, I remember standing at the kitchen window in the flat I was living in at the time, staring out through the window and just letting go of all the pain I’d held onto for the last five years. I finally felt in control of my life and excited to be able to settle down and take pride in having my own home.”
Linda was the first of 10 colleagues to complete a purchase as a result of the myOwnHome scheme with another 14 people expected to do the same in the coming months.
Having now settled into her new home, she said: “I will be eternally grateful to Stonewater for making this wonderful opportunity possible and I’m extremely proud to be part of the organisation.”
If you think this might be a place you’d like to work, check Stonewater’s latest vacancies, here: https://www.stonewater.org/careers/
Alternatively, for more information about Stonewater’s homeowning schemes visit www.stonewaterhomes.co.uk