You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Help to Buy extended in Scotland
The Scottish government’s Help to Buy scheme has been extended by a year, in part to help house builders recover from the impact of the coronavirus crisis.
Help to Buy (Scotland) will now run until March 2022, with the government committing £55m of funding for 2021/22, on top of the £50m committed for 2020/21.
The scheme, which is open both to first-time buyers and homeowners, sees the Scottish government take an equity share of up to 15% on new build homes purchased for less than £200,000.
According to the Scottish government, an estimated 2,000 additional households will be able to buy a new build home as a result of the scheme being extended.
READ MORE
Since the scheme was launched in 2013, it has supported households with the purchase of over 17,000 new build homes.
It is similar to the Help to Buy scheme managed by the UK government for households in England, which is currently set to end in March 2021.
Private house builders have been calling on the UK government to extend the scheme in England, in order to assist post-coronavirus economic recovery.
Scottish housing minister Kevin Stewart said: “A strong and growing housebuilding industry is vital to Scotland’s future economic prosperity – and particularly as we plan our strategic economic recovery from COVID-19.
“This extension will provide us with the opportunity to reassess future priorities for the market, taking account of economic conditions following the pandemic, as well as providing a helping hand to those seeking to buy their own home.
“Extending this scheme will help more people to buy a new build property, particularly those who have suffered lower levels of income and have used up savings due to the impact of COVID-19 in recent months.”
