Westminster Council Helps You Save

Westminster Council have done some maths and realised it's virtually impossible for anyone 'normal' to live in the borough and save enough to ever be able to buy your own place. They've calculated you'd need to earn at least £65k to buy, but even if you qualify for shared ownership schemes, how do you afford a deposit? The Council are buying 30 flats to let cheaply as a trial for individuals earning under £30k pa or couples earning under £40k pa - the idea is that people will be able to build up their savings (although they're not compelled to, this isn't Soviet Russia). The rents are for a maximum of five years to stop anyone taking advantage of a cheapo flat in some of the city's most sought-after areas. We like this; it's a sweet example of a council trying to do something nice, that will probabvly get jumped all over by grumpies (especially as Westminster is in the red), but we still like it. (Image / Kenchie)