Almost half a million new keys exchanged with Help to Buy

26 Feb 2019 02:09 PM

New figures that came out yesterday (26 February 2019) show almost half a million completions have taken place since 2013 using one or more of the government’s Help to Buy schemes.

430,000 of these completions were made by first time buyers, who benefit from the £3,000 government top up on their savings.

Quarterly Help to Buy statistics released yesterday (Tuesday 26 February) show that:

• 494,108 completions have taken place using one or more Help to Buy schemes, over 93% of which took place outside of London
• the average house price purchased through the schemes is £202,815
• first time buyers have now opened 1.4 million Help to Buy: ISAs, offering government bonuses of up to £3,000 on top of their savings

Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond yesterday said:

This government supports those who dream of owning their own home, and wants to help them take the first step onto the property ladder. That’s why we’ve cut stamp duty and extended the Help to Buy equity loan scheme to run until March 2023, supporting half a million more home purchases.

Minister of State for Housing, Kit Malthouse MP, yesterday said:

This government is committed to helping more people get on the housing ladder as we power through to delivering 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s.

Our Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme has supported more than 190,000 households in purchasing their home, helping to make the dream of home ownership a reality for a new generation.

The most completions using the Help to Buy: ISA continue to take place in the North West and Yorkshire & the Humber. In total, 194,379 completions have taken place across the UK since its launch in December 2015. The London Help to Buy scheme - which provides an equity loan of up to 40% for buyers in the capital with a 5% deposit - has helped 15,056 buyers across 33 boroughs purchase their own property between February 2016 and September 2018.

Find out more about all the different ways the government can help you to buy your own home.

Further information:

To find out more about today’s Help to Buy figures visit our statistical release.