Awareness and understanding of the government’s NewBuy scheme is “low”, according to research by Rightmove.
Before the scheme was launched in March, Rightmove questioned potential buyers on the scheme and found that 55 per cent of first-time-buyers had heard of it, but only 27 per cent of other home movers had.
Six months on and the first-time-buyer figure has increased to 66 per cent, while the number of other types of movers to have heard of the scheme was up to 49 per cent.
However, when asked whether they thought they fully understood the scheme, only two thirds stated they did.
Rightmove’s new homes director Alex Solomon said: “Assisting first-time buyers to get onto the ladder is one of the key challenges in the current housing market, so it is encouraging that two thirds of prospective first-time home-movers are familiar with NewBuy, and a further two thirds of that group understand the scheme.
“However, it is clear that there is still a job to do to raise awareness of the scheme among other home-movers.”
“It is clear from our research that raising enough of a deposit is the big issue facing those who don’t feel they are in a position to buy. The terms of the NewBuy scheme, allowing homemovers to purchase a property with a 5 per cent deposit, go a long way towards tackling this issue.
“However, with 34 per cent of first-time buyers and 51 per cent of other home-movers unaware of the scheme, is a major opportunity to help those standing on the sidelines of the housing market being lost?”
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