FAQs

Affordable homes are for anyone who cannot afford a home on the open market, this includes:

• First time buyers.
• A family with a disabled family member and cannot afford an adapted home.
• A single person who bought a home with a partner but had to sell the home due to the relationship ending and cannot afford a new home.

This is not an exhaustive list, but a summary of the different situations that we can help with. To see if you could qualify for a home see our eligibility criteria.

If you are successful in buying an affordable home you will be required to pay an administration fee of £250 and a £150 fee to have the legal charge registered with Land Registry, these fees are in addition to the fees you will pay your solicitor.

For new homes, we try to make the best use of the available space in a home by prioritizing couples or families that would best suit the size of a house. The way we prioritize homes is outlined in our Affordable Homes Policy.

For resales, these are new build affordable homes the current owners are looking to sell, if you want to buy a resale affordable home, you need to register with us so that we can check that you meet the eligibility requirements.

If you are eligible, you will need to arrange with the homeowner or estate agent to view the home. The owner will then tell us that they have agreed to sell to you.

Note: You would be buying the new-build home from the developer and resales from the current owner; Carmarthenshire County Council are not selling the home we will be nominating the person who the developer or owner should sell it to.

To apply for affordable housing you must register with us.

Once you have registered, we will email you a reference number and password that you will be able to use to log in to your Canfod Cartref account to finish your application and upload any documents we have requested.

You will need to sign up for email alerts and we will let you know about available homes coming up in the areas you are interested in.

All homes for sale will be advertised on the Canfod Cartref site.

Homes are also listed on our website and have more information and contact details of the seller.

You can express an interest in a home through submitting a 'bid' on Canfod Cartref. A 'bid' has no monetary value and doesn’t commit you to buying the home.

Before bidding you will need to ensure your application is up-to-date with:

• your current circumstances,
• financial information
• and evidence of a mortgage decision in principle certificate.

Canfod Cartref is used for social rented homes as well as homes to buy. You can bid to buy a home in any area.

You can bid on as many homes as you want, if you decide to bid on more than one home you can let us know your preference by email when you place your bid.

Your bid will not be accepted if your application is not up-to-date or you have failed to supply / submit the requested paperwork or information.

In the unfortunate situation that your bid is unsuccessful we will let you know, as long as you had uploaded a valid mortgage decision in principle certificate at the time of bidding.

No, you only pay your agreed mortgage repayments.

Yes, new homes will be offered for sale while they are still being built. That way, the sale can be agreed well in advance, and you can move in as soon as the home is ready.

It may also give you a chance to agree any choices the building contractor will offer, such as solar panels or choice of kitchen units.

Yes, you must keep to the conditions of the legal agreement you signed when you bought your home.

Typical conditions include:

• the percentage of your home that you can sell;
• that it can only be sold to someone who we approve as needing an affordable home; and
• the new owner must live or work in Carmarthenshire.

If you are thinking of selling your home and are unsure of your conditions please contact us.

No, we will keep our percentage so that the home remains affordable for future applicants.

For example, if you have bought a two-bedroom home and your family increases in size, we would consider you for a three-bedroom affordable home, as long as you sell your current home under the affordable criteria.

However, we cannot always guarantee that you will be able to sell your home at the same time as we can offer you another one.