Press release

Record number of households benefit from Help to Buy as loans pass £20bn

Over 55,000 households bought their home with the support of Help to Buy: equity loan last year – a record year for the scheme.

From:
Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government and The Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP
Published
13 August 2021
  • Figures released today show a record number of people buying a home through the Help to Buy: equity loan scheme
  • Over £20 billion has been lent to help people into homeownership since start of the scheme
  • Despite impact of COVID-19 housing market remains healthy as more first-time buyers get on the housing ladder
  • Government committed to providing a realistic and affordable route into home ownership

The number of people purchasing a home through the Help to Buy scheme is at an all-time high, according to figures released today (13 August 2021).

The latest Help to Buy statistics show that in the financial year 2020-21 over 55,000 households bought their home with the support of Help to Buy: equity loan – a record year for the scheme.

Since the scheme was introduced 328,506 households have now purchased a home through Help to Buy.

In total, the value of these equity loans has reached over £20 billion, with the value of the properties sold under the scheme going past the £90 billion mark.

The scheme helps first-time buyers on to the housing ladder by providing a loan to put towards the cost of buying a newly built home.

Today’s figures show the appetite for home ownership remains high across the country with the government committed to supporting first-time buyers and hard-working families into home ownership.

It was also announced earlier in the week that home builders across the country can bid for a share of £150 million to support roll-out of the new First Homes scheme helping local first-time buyers onto the housing ladder.

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick MP said:

Over 55,000 households bought their home with the support of Help to Buy equity loan last year: a record year for the scheme, which is helping young people and first-time buyers feel the sense of pride and achievement that comes with owning your own home.

Whether it be Help to Buy, the 95% mortgage guarantee scheme or First Homes – we’re doing everything we can to make home buying an affordable and realistic ambition.

Holly Roberts, 27, is one of the thousands of people who have benefitted from the scheme over the past year having recently purchased a property in Poole, Dorset.

Holly said:

It feels really good to have my own home, I just love having my own place and knowing that I did that through my own hard work.

I wouldn’t have been able to get on the housing ladder without Help to Buy. That equity loan just helped me bridge the gap between what I could borrow from a mortgage and the sort of prices I was looking at around this area.

I would recommend help to buy to other people. I genuinely think it is such a good government scheme.

First-time buyers can find the right home ownership scheme for them, including Help to Buy: equity loans, via the Own Your Home website which provides a single gateway for all routes on to the housing ladder.

The website is an easy and accessible way for first-time buyers to start their home ownership journey and find the right government scheme for them.

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Published 13 August 2021