x
By using this website, you agree to our use of cookies to enhance your experience.

Property experts have scorned suggestions that Help to Buy is fuelling a property bubble as new government figures show the mortgage guarantee element funded just 7,000 purchases in six months.

The figures should help protect the scheme from critics who have been calling for it to be scrapped to calm the housing market.

Brian Murphy, head of lending at Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB), said the mortgage guarantee was designed to help first-time buyers with smaller deposits onto the property ladder, and the latest statistics show it is "hitting its target audience on the head".

"The average value of a property bought with the mortgage guarantee scheme is 40% lower than the average house price across the UK and far below its £600,000 limit.

"The typical income for borrowers using the scheme is also just under the average across the market, underlining the fact that Help to Buy is assisting those whose main challenge is saving a deposit, and not facilitating loans to people on lower salaries who might struggle with their repayments.

"The finger of blame has often been pointed at Help to Buy for causing significant house price increases in London, but this rumour can finally be put to rest.

"Only 5% of completions took part in London, with most buyers using the scheme purchasing in the North West and the East.

"Removing the mortgage guarantee in the hopes of driving down activity in the South would be both unnecessary and unsuccessful."

The government figures were followed by new research from Aldermore showing that the biggest demand for Help to Buy mortgages in North West, North East and South Wes.

Stuart Law, chief executive of Assetz, said that for all the rhetoric, only 7,313 homes have been sold in the first six months of the mortgage guarantee scheme.

"When we look at this in the context of the 100,000 sales transactions that take place every month we are not looking at a significant market impact.

"Bank of England governor Mark Carney is unlikely to advise the government to pull back the scheme any time soon.

"Even so, I don't anticipate its abolition making much of a difference other than in confidence that the government intends to continue to support house prices."

Grinne Gilmore, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, said: "The take-up rate for the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee suggests that fears that it is stoking house prices have so far been misplaced.

"House prices have been underpinned by rising demand amid limited supply, and the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee is only a side-show to this fundamental problem.

"The mortgage guarantee was designed to improve access to the mortgage market for those with smaller deposits, but the choice of high loan-to-value loans had already increased considerably, helped by the Funding for Lending Scheme.

"Reducing the Help to Buy upper limit from £600,000 to say, £300,000 will have little material impact, as 93% of the loans were for properties costing £250,000 or less."

With the average house hunter estimating they won't be able to get on the housing ladder until age 36, according to a new report from MoneySupermarket.com, more Help to Buy is needed rather than less.

Comments

MovePal MovePal MovePal