320,000 People Benefit From Help To Buy
Help to Buy schemes have helped more than 320,000 people secure their own home, statistics by the Department for Communities and Local Government show.
Out of those completions, over 90% took place outside of London.
In addition, the average house price across the Help to Buy schemes was £196,092 – below the UK average of £223,257 in June 2017.
Most completions were made using the Help to Buy ISA, which allows individuals to save up to £200 a month towards buying a first home worth up to £250,000 (or £450,000 in London).
The Help to Buy ISA was used most frequently in the North West, Yorkshire and the West Midlands, while 83,636 completions have taken place since the scheme was launched in December 2015.
Furthermore, over 130,000 completions were made through the Help to Buy Equity Loan Scheme – offering buyers with a 5% deposit an equity loan of 20% towards a new build home.
81% of home purchases using the equity loan scheme had been made by first-time buyers.
The government will invest a further £10 billion into the scheme, helping an estimated 135,000 people to buy a home by 2021.
Alok Sharma, housing and planning minister, said:
“This government is committed to fixing the broken housing market and to help more people find a home of their own, with the support of a range of low cost home ownership products.”
