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  • Buying or building a house
    • Homestake
    • Shared Ownership
      • Where are shared ownership schemes?
      • How to apply
    • Rural Home Ownership Grants
    • Crofters grants and loans
      • Croft House Grants Scheme
      • The Highlands and Islands Croft Entrance Scheme
    • Getting a mortgage
    • How much can you spend?
    • Looking at properties
    • Decrofting
    • Acquiring a site
    • Planning permission
    • Getting a building warrant
    • Getting professional advice
  • Home Buyers Report
  • Maintaining your home
    • Common repairs
    • Repair and improvement grants
  • Housing aids and adaptations
  • Buying housing designed for older people
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Buying or building a house

There are three main options if you want to own your own house in Argyll and Bute.

Buying a house – with financial assistance
Firstly, you could find out whether you are eligible for grant assistance or to take part in a ‘low cost home ownership’ scheme. Click on the options below to find out more:

Homestake
Shared ownership
Rural home ownership grants
Crofter grants and loans


Buying a house – without financial assistance
This section gives you general advice on buying a home, including information like how to get a mortgage and appoint a solicitor:

Getting a mortgage
How much can you spend?
Looking at properties
Decrofting


Building a house
Another option is to build your own home. This section provides detailed information on some of the issues which you need to think about:

Acquiring a site
Planning permission
Building warrant
Getting advice

The Housing (Scotland) Act 2006 also has implecations if you want to buy or build your own home - The main purpose of the Act is to address, through encouragement and, where necessary, enforcement, problems of condition and quality in private sector housing, both owner-occupied and private rented (although some provisions also relate to the social rented sector). The underlying principles are that

• owners have primary responsibility for maintaining their houses, with assistance available where necessary
• landlords should provide houses that are suitable and in good condition

• Part 1 deals with various aspects of housing standards.
• Part 2 sets out the details of the scheme of assistance for housing purposes.
• Part 3 gives the Scottish Ministers powers to require sellers of houses or their agents to provide specified information to potential buyers. These powers will be used to establish mandatory schemes, under which the Purchaser's Information Pack and single survey will have to be supplied when a house is placed on the market. 
• Part 4 gives the Scottish Ministers powers to establish conditions for, and to approve, a scheme or schemes for the protection of tenancy deposits in the private rented sector.
• In Part 5 the system of licensing of houses in multiple occupation, which is presently founded in secondary legislation under the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, is re-enacted in primary legislation, with some changes to its details.
• Part 6 amends legislation relating to occupiers of mobile homes who let stances, in order to increase the protection given to them.
• Part 7 gives a local authority power to use repayment charges to recover amounts due to it for certain activities carried out in relation to living accommodation.
• Part 8 contains provisions relating to private landlords, registered social landlords and home energy efficiency.
• Part 9 deals with rights of local authorities and others to enter land and premises for specified purposes, such as identifying potential Housing Renewal Areas, deciding whether to serve a work notice or demolition notice, deciding whether to make a maintenance order, or carrying out work.
• Part 10 deals with various technical matters, including equal opportunities requirements for Ministers and local authorities and powers for local authorities to obtain information in relation to land and premises

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