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Help to Buy borrowing grows as buyers take advantage of equity loan

Christina Hoghton
Written By:
Christina Hoghton
Posted:
Updated:
26/07/2019

Help to Buy is still popular but purchases are rising at a significantly slower pace than previously

New figures for the Government’s flagship affordability scheme, Help to Buy, show that since its launch on 1st April 2013 until 31 March 2019, 221,405 properties have been purchased with the help of an equity loan.

The total value of these equity loans was £12.46 billion, with the value of the properties sold under the scheme totalling £57.61 billion.

Over four in every five of the purchases in the scheme were made by first-time buyers, accounting for 179,816 (81 per cent) of total purchases.

On average, properties bought under the scheme were £260,218, with buyers taking an equity loan of £56,257.

Joseph Daniels, founder of modular developer Project Etopia, said: “The number of people using Help to Buy is still growing slightly and the amount they are borrowing has risen 12.5% in a year.

“This is streets ahead of the rate of house price growth across England. Incredibly though, this still represents a significant slowdown. In fact, more than a billion pounds was taken in the final quarter of 2018 alone, which was 18.7% up on the previous year, and that annual rate of growth was consistent throughout 2018.

“The slowdown in this figure chimes with a slowing in the annual rate of house price growth nationally. An explosion of interest in the scheme sparked by the announcement of the 2021 and 2023 deadlines also seems to have come and gone.”