The government’s Help to Buy equity loan scheme has helped around a quarter of a million people onto the property ladder since it was launched in 2013, according to the Home Builders Federation (HBF).
HBF said that, based on an average first-time buyer household size of 1.8 people, it estimated that the initiative has now allowed 246,000 individuals to realise home ownership.
Government statistics reveal that 48,244 households bought a home via Help to Buy in the past year, 39,112 of which were first time buyers. This takes the total number of homes purchased through the scheme to 169,102 since 2013, with 81% of these households being first time buyers.
The statistics also show that 40% of all homes purchased with Help to Buy have been bought for less than £200,000. 75% of buyers paid less than £350,000. In Q1 2018, excluding London, the median purchase price via the scheme was £250,000.
HBF said that Help to Buy had achieved the three key objectives set at its launch: improving access to low deposit mortgages for creditworthy households; increasing supply of new housing; and making a contribution to the economy.
With the first aim, the initiative had been more successful than any previous scheme of a similar nature, HBF said. With the scheme being exclusive to the new build market, Help to Buy had boosted demand and helped net housing supply increase 74% since 2013, HBF added.
And, it said, the initiative’s contribution to the economy was underlined in a recent Lichfields report which revealed that each new home supports 3.1 jobs, “meaning that the 48,244 homes bought with Help to Buy last year helped to sustain an estimated 149,500 jobs on sites, in offices and through the supply chain”.
Stewart Baseley, HBF’s executive chairman, said: “The phenomenal increases in supply we have seen over the past five years would not have been possible without a scheme that has turned the dream of home ownership into a reality for so many.
“As the current expiry date for the scheme fast approaches, we are keen to continue working with policymakers to ensure that these benefits are sustained in some way beyond 2021 and bring much needed clarity for builders.”
Article sourced from housebuilder website www.house-builder.co.uk.
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