The Government’s Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has just released strong 2018 official results for its Help to Buy Scheme. Since April 2013, some 210,964 properties were bought with an equity loan.
In 2018, the figures show that the equivalent of 143 homes sold per day, that’s 1000 properties selling every week.
Over the six year period, first time buyers represent 81 per cent of those buyers who have been helped onto the housing ladder by the Help to Buy Equity scheme.
The Government scheme accounts for a total loan value of £11.7 billion since being set up by the government in April 2013. The overall value of properties sold through the funding initiative stands at £54.48 billion.
London’s leads the equity loan value rising by 20% since 2016
Under the scheme the mean equity loan was £55,498 and the mean purchase price of a property bought was £258,223. From February 2016, in London, the maximum equity loan rose from 20% to 40%. From then until the end of 2018, there were 12,511 property transactions in London and 10,635 were made with an equity loan higher than 20%.
Craig Hall, head of broker relationships and propositions at the Legal and General Mortgage Club, said: “The figures confirm the vital role of Help to Buy. The scheme has not only enabled housebuilders to deliver more homes, but it is consistently supporting the buyers who need it most with first time buyers accounting for 81% of total purchase.”
During the first quarter of 2019, robust HMRC transaction statistics potentially suggest that Help to Buy fuelled sales are still performing consistently, continuing the trend of the past 12 months.
One in seven first time buyers benefited from Help to Buy
Kate Davies, executive director of Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA), said: “The scheme was highly successful in 2018 and has continued to stimulate the bottom of the housing ladder and indirectly support the whole of the UK property sector throughout the year.”
Davies added: “With as many as one in every seven first time buyers using Help to Buy in England in 2018, it is likely that the programme will remain invaluable in supporting home buyers over the remaining years of scheme, and will play a crucial role in helping to keep the housing market on an even keel during a period of heightened uncertainty as a result of.”
Mr Hall said: “Looking beyond the scheme’s end it’s vital that Government and industry works together to ensure these buyers remain supported. It’s likely that we may see private schemes coming to market to help fill the void, however during the previous Legal and General New Build Forum, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government hinted they are considering alternative schemes to Help to Buy.”
The MHCLG has made it clear that Help to Buy will come to an end in 2023 and that it is looking to lenders and developers to come up with alternative products for first-time buyers and second movers.
