More than 185,000 people in the UK have been able to buy a new home using the Government’s flagship set of Help to Buy schemes, the latest quarterly statistics show.
Of these over 150,000 or 81% have been first time buyers with the average house price for purchases with support from Help to Buy schemes is £191,000. The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), which issues the data, said it shows that the schemes target responsible lending to first time buyers who tend to buy smaller and cheaper properties.
The data also shows that 95% of Help to Buy completions have taken place outside London and the newer Help to Buy Isa has helped 650,000 people to start saving towards their first home since it was launched in December 2015.
‘Hundreds of thousands have taken advantage of the Isa with its generous government bonus, to move towards their dream of owning their own home,’ said Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Simon Kirby.
Housing and Planning Minister, Gavin Barwell, pointed out that the Help to Buy schemes help people to realise their home ownership dream by reducing the need for large deposits and getting more new homes built.
‘With hundreds of households helped everyday through our range of Government backed schemes, we are building a country that works for everyone and not just the privileged few,’ he said, adding that the Isa is proving to be hugely popular with first time buyers offering a Government bonus of up to £3,000 towards the purchase of a new home.
The data also shows that more than 90,000 completions have now successfully taken place using the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme, where the government lends buyers up to 20% of the cost of a newly built home, so only a 5% cash deposit is required.
Help to Buy: Equity Loan supported 935 completions in London between February and June 2016. This includes completions from the London Help to Buy scheme, launched in February 2016, which supports purchases of new build homes in the capital by offering a 5% deposit backed by an equity loan of up to 40% from the government.
In addition, the Chancellor Philip Hammond has confirmed that the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme will close to new loans on 31 December 2016, as previously advertised. The scheme was introduced in 2013 to increase the availability of high loan to value mortgages.
Hammond explained that as confidence has now returned to the market with an increasing number of lenders offering 90% to 95% loans outside the scheme. The Government will continue offer the highly popular Help to Buy equity loan and ISA schemes.
‘Help to Buy continues to give a welcome leg up to many creditworthy buyers who may not otherwise have been able to get a foothold on the property ladder,’ said Paul Smee, director general of the Council of Mortgage Lenders.
‘The scheme has helped buyers right across the country, including a high proportion of younger borrowers and first time buyers. Mortgages for those with small deposits are now becoming more common outside the scheme and Help to Buy has been a significant help for buyers when they were less readily available,’ he added.
