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Low-Cost Home Ownership Schemes

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Published: 3 Jul 2017

Low Cost Home Ownership (LCHO) schemes are common in many countries. OECD evidence suggests this is based on the idea that they promote wealth accumulation, better outcomes for children, and higher levels of social capital in neighbourhoods, although none of these is unambiguously evidenced. More important is that it is often seen as a universal household aspiration.

Schemes come in many different forms. These include subsidising the construction of “affordable” homes to buy; or reducing the cost of buying for individual households including through lower deposits, subsidised savings schemes, government guarantees, grants to reduce the price, and the sale of public housing at a discount (“Right to Buy” in the UK).

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