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Help to Buy scheme has helped 285,000 buyers

Christina Hoghton
Written By:
Christina Hoghton
Posted:
Updated:
27/02/2024

Over 90% of purchases made using the Help to Buy scheme have been outside London

Over 285,000 homeowners, including 240,000 first-time buyers, have been helped to purchase a property by the government’s Help to Buy schemes, according to official figures.

In addition, the Help to Buy: ISA has helped over 960,000 people save towards their own home, and will assist thousands more into homeownership over the next few years, said the Department for Communities and Local Government.

The figures revealed that the average house price across the schemes is £193,826, which is below the average UK house price, and over 90% of completions across the Help to Buy schemes have taken place outside of London.

The London Help to Buy scheme provides an equity loan of up to 40% for buyers in the capital with a 5% deposit. It has helped 3,249 buyers in the capital across 32 boroughs purchase their own property between February 2016 and March 2017.

Stephen Barclay, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said: “We want to make sure that anyone who works hard and aspires to own their own home has that opportunity. That is why I am delighted that our Help to Buy schemes have now helped over 240,000 first time buyers across the country achieve home ownership.”

Alok Sharma, the new Housing and Planning Minister, added: “As set out in our Housing White Paper, we’re committed to helping those aspiring home buyers currently locked out of the market to turn their home ownership dreams into reality.”