As the final deadline for Help to Buy approaches, a new report from Gradual Homeownership provider Wayhome has revealed the extent of the scheme’s impact on the UK housing market.
Since its launch in 2013, Help to Buy has facilitated the purchase of £105.4bn worth of property through 375,654 completed transactions, with £23.7bn in loans issued.
However, with the scheme now closed to new applicants and the final deadline for completions set for the end of March, the UK’s aspiring homeowners must look to alternative methods to climb the property ladder.
According to Wayhome’s research, Help to Buy has had the most significant impact in the South East, which accounts for 18.1% of all transactions made through the scheme, followed by the East of England, North West, South West and East Midlands. The scheme has also helped over 44,944 first-time buyers purchase their first home, with 25,000 completing the process in 2021 alone.
Despite the success of the scheme, Wayhome’s research suggests that demand for government buying schemes is currently outstripping supply, with just 13,066 homes listed for sale with the benefit of such a scheme accounting for just 2.2% of total property market stock.
As a result, the private sector is helping to plug the gap, with alternative schemes such as Shared Ownership, Deposit Unlock and First Homes Scheme, as well as Gradual Homeownership, offering additional support to homebuyers.
Commenting on the report, Nigel Purves, co-founder and CEO of Wayhome, said that while Help to Buy had been a hugely successful scheme, its closure had left a “sizable hole” in the market at a time when the financial obstacle to homeownership has never been greater.
Purves added: “Regardless of your personal opinion, there’s no denying that the Help to Buy scheme has helped a phenomenal number of homebuyers onto the ladder who may otherwise have failed to make the jump from the rental sector.
“At its peak, it helped facilitate over 50,000 transactions a year and in 2021, it helped 25,000 first-time buyers alone. With the scheme now closing its door, it leaves a sizable hole within the market, at a time when the financial obstacle to homeownership has never been greater.
“The private sector is helping to plug the gap to a degree but as our research shows, with around 13,000 homes offering the aid of a government buying scheme in the current market, along with additional avenues such as Gradual Homeownership, we simply can’t do it alone.
“The onus is now on the Government to find a solution and some may argue that it’s their duty given the fact that their failure to build enough homes is one of the key contributing factors to spiralling house prices.”
