More than 73,000 borrowers given a helping hand with Government scheme.

January 8, 2015

More than 73,000 people have been aided by the Government's Help to Buy scheme since its launch, with the majority being first-time buyers, figures showed today.

A total of 73,839 people across Britain have bought a home through the scheme since it was introduced 20 months ago, according to the Government.

The equity loan part of the scheme has been the most popular, helping 38,052 households to buy a property. The mortgage guarantee part of the scheme has helped 30,269 households to buy a property. The rest of the total was made up by those using the NewBuy scheme, which offers people an opportunity to buy a new build property using a 95 per cent mortgage.

A total of 83 per cent of those who received assistance through the equity loan scheme were first-time buyers, with the average price of homes bought being £212,000.


Help to Buy Scheme - Zoopla

It comes after Halifax figures reported this week that the number of first time buyers has reached 326,500 - an increase of 22 per cent compared to a year ago and 50 per cent on two years ago.

The Government suggested the main towns and cities benefiting from the equity loan scheme include Leeds, Milton Keynews, Peterborough, Birmingham and Bedford.

said: "Our long-term economic plan has turned this country around from the one we inherited, suffering from a crashed economy and a housing market where builders wouldn't build, lenders wouldn't lend and buyers couldn't buy.

"Now numbers of first-time buyers are at their highest since 2007, housebuilding continues to climb and planning permissions are at record levels.

"All these measures combined are helping record numbers of people into a new home, including 73,000 households benefiting from Help to Buy and we will keep striving to get that total even higher."

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