Help to Buy purchases made using an Equity Loan reached record highs in the year to September 2019.
52,703 Help to Buy homes were purchased using an equity loan in the year to September, a rise of 4.6 per cent on the 50,402 completions in the year to September 2018.
Whilst 81 per cent of Help to Buy users have been first-time buyers since the schemes launch in 2013, 86 per cent of purchases were made by first-time buyers in the year to September 2019.
Furthermore, the 43,686 Help to Buy properties bought by FTBs in the year to September is a 6.2 per cent increase on the 41,143 FTB homebuyers using the scheme in 2018.
As the Help to Buy scheme adapts to provide a service exclusively to FTBs from 2021, the figures suggest current homeowners are already finding other means of purchasing their next home move.
Joseph Daniels, founder of Project Etopia, commented:
“Help to Buy continues to be a bait ball for buyers as they increasingly snap at this generous incentive while it lasts.
“The adjustment of the scheme in 2021 is now right around the corner. It will still be available to first-time buyers but regional price caps will begin to limit the size of the properties these purchasers can buy through the scheme.
“They know they may never have a better chance to get the home they want, as witnessed by the ever-increasing usage figures for the scheme. Buyers are clearly taking advantage while they still can.
“The only thing these buyers need to watch out for is the way current and future price caps will squeeze properties into a narrow band of price. This can push up the prices of properties, as well as drag them down. This happens because demand is driven up for a relatively small segment of the market, and buyers should be careful not to overpay as it may offset the benefits of the scheme in the long term when they come to sell.”
