More than 220,000 home buyers have used Help to Buy

The latest government figures show that more than 220,000 people have now used the various Help to Buy schemes to purchase a new home.

More than 180,000 of them are first time buyers. The average house price across the schemes is £191,000, showing that it is those buying smaller properties who are benefiting most.

There are various Help to Buy schemes including Shared Ownership, Equity Loan, and London Help to Buy. There is also the ISA scheme for first time buyers in which the government adds a 25% bonus to savings held in a Help to Buy ISA for the purpose of buying a home.

More than 100,000 completions have now taken place through the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme, which offers buyers up to 20% of a newly built home’s costs so they only need to provide a 5% deposit.

Since the launch of the Help to Buy: ISA in December 2015, 27,222 property completions have been supported by the scheme. The highest proportion of property completions with the support of the ISA are in the North West, Yorkshire and the Humber and South West.

The London Help to Buy scheme provides an equity loan of up to 40% for buyers in the capital with a 5% deposit. It helped 1,500 buyers with their property purchase between February-September 2016, across 29 London boroughs.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond, said: “We are continuing the popular Equity Loan and ISA schemes to ensure people can access support when buying or saving for a property.”

However, the government has scrapped the Mortgage Guarantee scheme, under which it guaranteed deposits up to 20% as long as the buyer could raise 5% of the purchase price. The scheme was introduced when most lenders wanted deposits of up to 25% before offering mortgages.

Ministers say the scheme is no longer needed because many lenders are now offering 95% mortgages.

Please contact us if you would like advice about the legal aspects of buying or selling a home.