What is Help to Buy?
Help to Buy is a Government backed scheme which offers a range of options such as Shared Ownership and Equity Loan. The Equity Loan scheme allows first time buyers and existing homeowners with a 5% deposit, to apply for a 20% Equity Loan (40% in London) towards the cost of purchasing a new property. Interest is not charged on the loan for the first five years.
Traditionally first-time buyers make up the majority of mortgage applicants, however existing homeowners wishing to take advantage of the scheme, and the current stamp duty holiday has resulted in a 53% increase in demand from existing homeowners, compared to this time last year.
This has resulted in the housing market hitting a 13-year high with 84,700 mortgages signed off in August 2020. In addition, Help to Buy for the South saw a 66% increase in Help to Buy Equity Loan applications in September compared to August.
Since June, our Help to Buy team have helped nearly 7,000 applicants move into their new homes through the Equity Loan scheme and authorised over 11,000 applications to proceed to purchase. They have also processed 21,500 applications for shared ownership and rental schemes in the south.
To cope with the increased volume in Help to Buy applications, the team has almost doubled from 73 to 137 colleagues since January.
If you want to find out more about the Help to Buy scheme click here
