by Will Kilner City Centre Reporter Home buyers are being given a new incentive to buy apartments in one of Bradford’s most iconic developments.

Regeneration company Urban Splash has announced the roll-out of a Government initiative at Velvet Mill, in the Lister Mills development, Manningham.

The Homebuy Direct scheme, an initiative from the Homes and Communities Agency, will now be available to people looking to set up home in the historic mill.

If customers meet the eligibility criteria, such as earning less than £60,000 a year and being in full-time employment, they can take out a minimum 70 per cent mortgage.

The other 30 per cent would be provided as an equity loan from Urban Splash and the Homes and Communities Agency.

For an apartment that would once have cost £129,000, people can now pay £90,000 for a stake. Meanwhile, flats that would have been £90,000 are available for part-ownership at £63,000.

Nicola Wallis, director of Urban Splash, said: “This is a fantastic new initiative helping buyers into home ownership through an affordable Government-backed scheme.”

She said the scheme made the prospect of living in a listed building “truly affordable”.

Urban Splash said it was confident the scheme would prove successful.

The Velvet Mill is one of two former textile buildings at Lister Mills to have been redeveloped.

The 131 apartments in the first redeveloped mill, the Silk Warehouse, are now occupied.

Meanwhile, more than half the 196 apartments in Velvet Mill are also occupied.