By The number of first time buyers that have accessed the UK property ladder through the use of government Help to Buy schemes, totals 400,000, according to the recent Quarterly Help to Buy statistics report which was released by the government on 30th November 2018.
There have been 1.2 million Help to Buy ISA accounts opened by first-time buyers in the UK, which are eligible for the government bonus scheme threshold of £3,000 for every £200 saved, according to the recent data.
Over 93 per cent of all of the completions made through the use of the various government Help to Buy schemes took place outside of London, and the average price of a property purchased through these schemes was recorded at £201,881.
The highest number of property completions were made by first-time buyers through the use of the Help to Buy ISA since it was launched on the 1st December 2015, according to the recent data.
The London Help to Buy scheme helped 13,697 first-time buyers over 33 boroughs get onto the property ladder between February 2016 to June 2018. This particular government scheme provides an equity loan of 40 per cent for first-time buyers in London that have a 5 per cent deposit.
Over 183,000 property sale completions have taken place under the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme that offers first-time buyers a limit of 20 per cent of a new build home’s costs, so that the first-time buyer is only required to come up with a 5 per cent deposit, according to the recent report.
By March 2021, the government is estimated to have invested about £22 billion into the various Help to Buy schemes, which would have supported 360,000 households into homeownership for the very first time.
Following the recent data report from the Help to Buy schemes, John Glen, Economic Secretary to the Treasury commented: “We want to help as many people as possible experience the fantastic feeling of pride you get when you collect the keys to your first home.
“That’s why we offer the special Help to Buy: ISA for them to save, cut their Stamp Duty, and introduced a new Help to Buy Equity Loan to run until March 2023.”
A closer look at the recent Help to Buy ISA data
When breaking down the statistics for the government’s various Help to Buy schemes further, 169,980 new property completions have been provided under the Help to Buy ISA scheme. This is according to the recent Quarterly Help to Buy ISA data, which was recorded from the 1st December 2015 to the 30th June 2018.
Of the 169,980 new homes that were completed during this period (1st December 2015 – 30th June 2018), the highest proportion of these new property completions took place in the North West, Yorkshire and The Humber. Whereas, the lowest proportion of new houses that were completed under the scheme were in the North East and Northern Ireland, according to the recent data.
The mean value of a property bought through the Help to Buy ISA scheme was recorded at £172,787 compared to the national average house price recorded at £228,384 and the average first-time buyer house price was recorded at £193,006, according to the recent Quarterly Help to Buy ISA data.
The median age of a first-time buyer using the Help to Buy ISA scheme was recorded at 27 years of age. This is lower to the national average first-time buyer not using a government Help to Buy scheme, with a recorded median age of 30, according to the recent data.
This data infers that younger first-time buyers are able to get on the property ladder sooner with the assistance of the Help to Buy schemes.
There were 225,618 government bonuses paid out to first-time buyers through the scheme between 1st December 2015 to 30th April 2018, and the average bonus value was £836, according to the recent data.
The recent data also showed that the government paid out 225,618 bonuses to first-time buyers. James Brokenshire, Communities Secretary, commented: “I am committed to making the housing market work for everyone and restore the dream of home ownership for a new generation.
“It’s great news that since 2010 we have helped over half a million people get on the housing ladder, through programmes such as Help to Buy.
“We are determined to do more, which is why we have dedicated over £44 billion of investment to help deliver the homes communities need.”
The Help to Buy ISA scheme allows first-time buyers saving for their first home to receive a maximum of 25 per cent increase to their savings from the government when they purchase a property worth £250,000 or less outside of London and for properties worth up to £450,000 inside London.
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