Help to Buy scheme funded 4,300 completions in June – a new high!

The latest government figures published 31st July, revealed that 4,357 sales were made under the Help to Buy equity loan scheme in June. This is the highest monthly total since the scheme started back in April 2013. Despite its faults, the scheme has been a major factor in the improvements seen in the UK housebuilding and construction industry.

Overall, 27,167 homes have been purchased under the loan initiative. The figures, covering April 2013 to June 30 2014, also show that first time buyers made up 85% of the sales at 23,167 transactions. The figures refer to the first phase of Help to Buy, which offers buyers an interest-free loan worth up to 20% of the price of a new-build home.

The average price of an equity loan home was £207,967 against a median equity loan of £41,413.

Housing and planning minister Brandon Lewis said that for the first time, sales data had been included in the figures, split by postcode. The allows us to identify how the scheme is benefitting areas across the country.

Wiltshire saw the highest number of equity loan sales at 469, with Leeds and Central Bedfordshire achieving 457 and 427 transactions respectively since the scheme’s inception.

Stewart Baseley, HBF’s executive chairman, commented: “Help to Buy is allowing people across the county to buy new build homes and if people can buy, builders can build. Indicators suggest increases in housebuilding activity in the region of 25% and the past year has seen the steepest increase in new housing starts for around 40 years.

 “To ensure increases are sustainable, central and local government need to ensure the planning system responds accordingly and can meet demand in the long term.”

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