You may be one of the many people who have never heard of the LIFT scheme. Lift stands for Low Cost Initiative for First-Time Buyers. It’s the housing scheme for Scotland, helping those on low incomes buy a property. It has been recently announced that the budget has been increased for the next financial year and the scheme will be expanded to the whole of Scotland. It has been piloted in a few regions. It is going to be all over the press very soon, probably this week. Basically the Scottish Government will take an equity stake in purchased homes as a way to offset the high repayment costs caused by increased house prices allowing buyers to pay for a mortgage for only part of the home, making the repayments affordable for them. The scheme has proved very popular and with a limited budget I would strongly suggest you take the first steps and get your application in as soon as possible. The first thing to do of course is to find if the scheme is available in your area yet. Social landlords handle the applications and once approved apply for the financing from the Scottish Government. The Lift Scotland scheme gives you twelve weeks to find a home once you receive your approval letter. I would suggest you know sit down with your other half, discuss your requirements and have made progress with the house searching so you don’t lose your Lift Scotland allowance. It would be devastating to lose that funding and then not be approved for it again. There are two Lift Scotland scheme options the one that is being expanded to the whole of Scotland is the Open Market Shared Equity Scheme, allowing you to buy a home that is on the current market. This lift Scotland scheme gives you more options when it comes to looking for a home although there are house price limits set for each area. The New Supply Shared Equity Scheme is for new build homes which is great if you can find them but with the recession, house building has dried up. The Open Market Shared Equity Scheme is the LIFT Scotland scheme is going to be of most benefit to family’s resident on Scotland.