Help to Buy home buyers total approaches 13,000
National: Almost 13,000 home buyers have used the first phase of the Government’s flagship Help to Buy scheme to purchase a new-build property in its first nine months.
Figures released by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) showed there have been 12,875 sales of newly-built properties through the Help to Buy equity loan scheme in England since its launch, with a further 6,446 sales in the pipeline.
The Government said the equity loan scheme has created 46 new home owners every day since its launch.
The Help to Buy equity loan scheme enables first-time buyers and home movers to buy a newly-built home with a deposit of at least 5% of the property price, while the Government offers a loan of up to 20% and the rest is covered by a mortgage.
The figures for the first phase of Help to Buy cover England only, with other nations within the UK launching their own versions of the scheme.
The DCLG said Leeds is the top hotspot for Help to Buy sales using the equity loan scheme, with Wiltshire, Central Bedfordshire, Milton Keynes and Manchester completing the top five areas.
A second phase of Help to Buy, covering the whole of the UK, was launched in October and offers state-backed mortgages to people with 5% deposits who want to buy a new-build or an existing home.
Most Read
- 1 Crash involving ambulance closes Ipswich road
- 2 Richest people in East Anglia revealed on Sunday Times Rich List
- 3 Police carry out 'pre-planned' operation in Felixstowe road
- 4 'You have broken us!' - New cafe at Suffolk beauty spot on huge demand
- 5 Parking woes for shop parade hit by 'continous roadworks'
- 6 Driver taken to hospital after car crashes into parked vehicle
- 7 Suffolk fish and chip van to feature on Escape to the Country
- 8 Ipswich salon to offer free gent's haircut at Suffolk Show
- 9 Double drink driver who killed Jennifer, 32, jailed six years and eight months
- 10 See inside stunning £1.15m home a stone's throw away from Christchurch Park
Housing minister Kris Hopkins said: “I’m delighted that through the Help to Buy scheme we’ve helped thousands of hard-working people realise their dream of becoming homeowners, getting onto the property ladder using this valuable alternative to the bank of mum and dad.”
ends
