An extra £10bn promised to the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme.
The Prime Minister has announced that an additional £10bn will be made available for the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme. Theresa May announced the funding extension at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester. It is thought that another 135,000 people would be able to use the scheme to buy property with Help To Buy now financed to at least 2021.
Help to Buy Equity Loan allows people to buy a new-build home with a 5% deposit, with the government providing a further 20% (40% in London) in the form of an equity loan (repayable when the house is sold, or after 25 years).
In its ‘Stepping Up‘ report on the Help To Buy scheme the House Builders Federation (HBF) indicates that it has helped 134,000 households buy a new home including 108,620 first time buyer households. The report states that Help to Buy has been, “a key factor in housing supply increasing 52% in just three years.”
However, the House Builders Association (HBA) – the house building division of the National Federation of Builders (NFB) – believes that extending Help to Buy will not help to solve the housing crisis. Rico Wojtulewicz, policy advisor for the HBA, said: “Help to Buy is a symbol of failed housing policy. While it is helping people afford homes, the Government should be laser focused on building more homes and not just reheating policies that inflate demand. Enabling SME house builders to build more homes is the only way to address the housing crisis in a sustainable way that ensures growth across all regions.”
