Despite the clamour for Government intervention in the UK’s housing crisis, a significant number of potential homeowners are expressing doubts about the possible return of the Help to Buy scheme, according to a new survey by estate agent comparison site GetAgent.co.uk.
The study revealed that while 81% of homebuyers want the government to take more action to address the housing crisis and reduce the cost of homeownership, less than half (46%) believe the Help to Buy scheme should be re-introduced. A staggering 79% see it as a mere vote-winning strategy by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
The Help to Buy scheme, introduced a decade ago and closed just months ago, was designed to support first-time buyers. However, GetAgent’s survey showed the majority of these buyers are not eager for its comeback.
The survey findings indicated that 80% of first-time buyers think that house prices are excessively high, and 37% said they need extra financial help to climb the property ladder.
However, over half of the respondents (52%) expressed concern about schemes like Help to Buy that boost demand without addressing supply. Furthermore, 54% are against the re-introduction of the scheme, while nearly 80% think the move is more about securing votes for Sunak than genuinely assisting first-time buyers.
Commenting on the survey results, Colby Short, co-founder and CEO of GetAgent.co.uk, said, “Fuelling demand without addressing supply is a short-term fix to a long-term problem and, in doing so, only drives house prices ever higher to the detriment of those such schemes are supposed to help.
“Unfortunately, the Government’s record on delivering more homes speaks for itself and so it’s no surprise that today’s homebuyers are highly sceptical of the re-introduction of Help to Buy.”
