17,000 get homes through Help to Buy scheme

More than 17,000 homes have been bought under the Government’s Help to Buy scheme, according to the latest official figures.

The vast majority (80 per cent) have been bought by first-time buyers, while 77 per cent have been purchased outside of London and the South-East.

The figures were released by Downing Street, just days after George Osborne announced it was to be extended until 2020 with a £6bn boost in the budget to help an estimated 120,000 more households purchase a new-build home.

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Prime Minister David Cameron said: “Help to Buy is a key part of our long-term economic plan, giving thousands more people the security and independence that comes from owning their own home.”

Of the 17,395 homes purchased with the Help to Buy scheme the vast majority (14,823) were bought using the equity loan option while 2,572 were bought using the mortgage guarantee.

The two-part scheme enables buyers to get on the house ladder with as little as a five per cent deposit with a loan from the Government, but there are growing concerns the initiative is fuelling a housing bubble.

Earlier this month Halifax warned the scheme was pushing house prices out of reach by creating strong demand when the supply of properties was not keeping up.

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There are also fears that the second phase of the scheme – the mortgage guarantee offered on new and existing homes worth up to £600,000 – is pushing prices up in London and the South East.

The figures show the average house price was £194,992 with the most sales in the South East.

Emma Reynolds MP, Labour’s Shadow Housing Minister, said: “Under this Government house building fell to its lowest level in peacetime since the 1920s and home ownership continues to fall. You can’t deal with the cost-of-living crisis without building more homes.”