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First-time buyers fuel rise in Help to Buy purchases
The number of properties bought through the Help to Buy equity loan scheme has continued to rise this year, driven by an increase in first-time buyers in London using the scheme.
Figures released by the government on Friday show English home purchases completed under the scheme were up 15% in the year to 30 June, compared with the same period last year.
In London, purchases rocketed by 34% in the first half of 2018 compared with the first half of 2017, with a figure of 4,878. First-time buyers bought 4,627 of those homes.
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The average purchase price of homes sold under Right to Buy for the first half of 2018 was £288,885 and has almost increased by half since 2013, the first year of the scheme.
Between the launch of Help to Buy on 1 April 2013 and 30 June 2018, 183,947 properties have been bought with an equity loan.
The Help to Buy equity loan scheme sees borrowers take a loan of up to 20% of the purchase price from the government. They only start paying this back five years after purchasing the property, with the government recuperating its investment when the property is sold.
Since February 2016 in London, the loan has been expanded to 40% of the purchase price.
The scheme will run until 2021, before being limited to first-time buyers only until 2023 and being scrapped entirely after that.
Lucy Pendleton, founding director of estate agents James Pendleton, said: “Those looking for some clues as to what is propping up house prices across the country need look no further.
“First-time buyers are piling into Help To Buy and they don’t seem to give two hoots about the Brexit uncertainty that is holding back the rest of the market.”
