Communities and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles said that the figures show that government action to help kick start the housing market is working as housing supply and confidence increases.
He also pointed out that the scheme is giving new confidence to house builders with new supply at its highest level since 2008 with almost a third of a million additional being built in the last two years.
The number of first time buyers is also at its highest level since 2007 and rising and £19.5 billion of public and private investment is being spent on affordable housing. The government's Funding for Lending Scheme has also increased the availability of competitively priced mortgages.
‘This government's package of measures to boost the housing market is working, with house building and housing supply on the up. The tough decisions we've taken to tackle the deficit are now delivering a sustainable increase in housing and providing real help to hard working people,’ said Pickles.
‘With over 10,000 reservations in four months, it's clear that the Help to Buy is working well. By dealing with the big challenges, we are helping thousands of young people and families get on and move up the housing ladder, and Britain is building again,’ he added.
Help to Buy consists of two schemes. The Equity Loan for new build properties, has nearly 3,000 sales already completed and has had over 10,000 formal reservations in the first four months.
The Help to Buy equity loan scheme is set to help up to 74,000 home buyers over the next three years. Under the equity loan scheme, buyers receive a 20% equity loan, interest free for five years, which helps creditworthy buyers purchase a new build property from a participating house builder with a value of up to £600,000.
The Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme, administered by HM Treasury, will begin in January 2014. It will enable lenders to use government backed guarantees to offer £130 billion worth of mortgages with smaller deposits, of at least 5% on new and existing properties for credit worthy buyers. This will further increase the availability of mortgages and help promote confidence and house building.
Mark Clare, chief executive of UK builder Barratt said that customer interest in the Help to Buy scheme has been very strong. ‘It addresses the issue of lack of mortgage finance at higher loan to values. Interest has been particularly encouraging from customers previously locked out of the market by high deposit requirements,’ he explained.
‘Our production will rise to meet higher levels of demand and it's likely that our completions this year will be up 20% on two years ago. We are investing in land and bringing it through planning too and we are also expanding the business by taking on 600 new apprentices and graduates to tackle the skills shortage that could constrain future growth,’ he added.
Jeff Fairburn, group chief executive of house builder Persimmon, said the firm has also seen a notable increase in customer interest. ‘In response we have increased our build activity to meet this increase in demand. If this early interest is maintained, the Help to Buy Scheme will play an important role in enabling the industry to increase the volume of new homes built over the coming months and years,’ he pointed out.
‘And in addition to helping the housing shortage this will have wider benefits for jobs and the economy. For example, Persimmon has already decided to make significant further investment in trade apprentices this year to support the anticipated increase in output,’ he added.
Pete Redfern, chief executive of Taylor Wimpey said it has enabled the firm to build more homes on the sites they have already got open. ‘It also gives us more confidence about investing in future sites and infrastructure which creates more jobs and economic activity locally,’ he added.
