43% of new homes have been built under “Help to Buy” scheme

New research has found that 43% of new homes built under the Help to Buy scheme would not have been built without the scheme.

A report published yesterday also found that 82% of buyers under Help to Buy: equity loan would not have been able to purchase their home without the scheme helping them gain ownership of a property.

Since the launch of the scheme, more than 130,000 people have been able to become homeowners, showing the success of the scheme, which aimed to support hard-working people who could pay a mortgage but struggled to save the deposits required by lenders.

The report found that the new scheme had not driven up house prices, and that housebuilders had much more confidence in the housing market. Builders have seen improved confidence in the market because of the scheme and say it encouraged more lenders to enter the market. It is also helping people move up to bigger homes.

The research found that the average price of homes under the scheme is £212,000, £55,000 below the UK average of £267,000 and that it has brought down the average deposit needed.

Housing Minister Brandon Lewis said: “Anyone who works hard and aspires to own their own home should have the opportunity to do so and this report shows how the government’s Help to Buy scheme continues to turn those dreams into a reality.

“We’ve got the country building again and seen the number of new homes increase by 25% in the last year alone with thousands of people across the country helped by the scheme.”

Government schemes Help to Buy London and Help to Buy: ISA, mean that the number of owners assisted by government schemes is expected to continue rising, with more than 250,000 people opening a Help to Buy: ISA. The figure is equivalent to one person opening an account every 30 seconds, or over 3,000 a day.

From those who used the Help to Buy scheme, 93% of buyers were satisfied with the experience of buying a property.

Help to Buy London, which began on 1 February 2016, allows Londoners to buy a home with just a 5% deposit and a mortgage as low as 55%, with the first week seeing 15,000 expressions of interest.

 

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