Help to Buy, the government’s flagship housing scheme, has helped more than 71,000 people across the country buy a new home, official statistics show.
The latest figures show in total over 66,000 households have been helped by Help to Buy: Mortgage Guarantee and Equity Loan. The government is trumpeting the figures as proof that the scheme is working.
It’s also highlighting the fact that Help to Buy continues to overwhelmingly benefit first-time buyers, with the vast majority of sales outside of London and at prices well below the national average. Eighty-one per cent of Help to Buy sales are to first-time buyers, helping 54,000 into their first home.
Together with the government’s NewBuy scheme – which offers 95 per cent mortgages for those buying new-build properties – the number of new home owners has reached more than 71,000.
Help to Buy also appears to be benefiting every region of the country. The North West is the highest region for the Mortgage Guarantee, while the Equity Loan – a scheme for new-build properties – is particularly successful in the East and South East. Ninety-four per cent of completions under the scheme remain outside London.
Leeds council is the highest performing local authority across the country for the two parts of Help to Buy, with almost 1000 new homes secured by its residents, while Birmingham council has seen a significant increase of over 300 new completions.
The government also says Help to Buy is supporting responsible lending, with the average house price for the combined schemes at £186,000, or £156,000 for mortgage guarantee and £211,000 under the equity loan scheme – all of which are well below the UK average house price of £273,000.
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