£10bn Budget boost: four in 10 new homes buyers are using Help to Buy to get on the property ladder

A Help-to-Buy funding boost, stamp duty cuts and lower property prices are tempting first-time buyers out of winter hibernation.
From £404,995: new Help to Buy homes at Bellway’s Lansbury Square in Poplar
David Spittles2 March 2018

Four in every 10 buyers of a new home are taking advantage of the government-backed Help-to-Buy scheme following a £10bn reboot announced in last November’s Budget, report housebuilders.

The government-backed scheme covers homes valued up to £600,000 and allows buyers to purchase with a relatively low deposit of 5pc.

With the government providing an equity loan of 40pc, buyers need a mortgage of 55pc of purchase price, achievable for those with lower earnings.

Hundreds of Help-to-Buy homes are available across London. Developer Bellway is holding a special event on 15 March at Grange St Paul’s Hotel in the City of London.

Homes will be on offer at nine locations including Camberwell, Stratford, Barking, Acton, Croydon and Poplar, with prices starting at £254,995. For more details, email helptobuysales@Bellway.co.uk.

Barratt has launched Help-to-Buy apartments at a Harrow Square, the north-west London suburb synonymous with the prestigious boarding school for boys, and at 842-home Upton Gardens, a redevelopment of West Ham United’s old football stadium in east London. Prices from £334,995. Call 0844 811 4321.

No interest is charged on the Help-to-Buy equity loan for the first five years. From year six, a fee of 1.75pc applies, rising by RPI plus 1pc.

It is not a permanent fixed sum but an equity loan based on the value of the property. So it has to be paid back, within 25 years or when the property is sold.

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