Statistical data set

Help to Buy (equity loan) scheme quarterly statistics

Statistics showing cumulative sales since the launch of the Help to Buy (equity loan) scheme on 1 April 2013.

This statistical data set was withdrawn on

The latest figures can be found on the main Help to Buy equity loan page.

Latest figures

The latest quarterly release of breakdowns of cumulative sales under the Help to Buy (equity loan) scheme is available from Open Data Communities.

The main points are:

  • over the period since the launch of the Help to Buy: equity loan scheme (1 April 2013 to 31 March 2017), 120,864 properties were bought (legal completions) with the support of the Help to Buy: equity loan scheme

  • the majority of sales were to first-time buyers (97,578) representing 81% of total sales

  • the average (mean) purchase price was £236,041

  • the top 6 local authorities in terms of completed sales are Wiltshire (2,021), Central Bedfordshire (1,710), Leeds (1,704), Wakefield (1,611), County Durham (1,574) and Bedford (1,489)

Local level data

The Open Data Communities portal allows users to quickly and easily navigate local level data. The figures cover the period from the launch of the scheme on 1 April 2013 to 31 December 2016, with breakdowns available:

  • by local authority including a column on sales to first-time buyers

  • by Parliamentary Constituency (for the 86% of sales where the property’s postcode does not straddle a constituency boundary); figures have been attributed to an individual constituency by reconciling data against the ONS Postcode Directory (May 2014) where possible - figures for some constituencies may be subject to revision later in the year

  • by postcode sector (eg NN9 5..), shown only for postcode sectors with 3 or more cases, to minimise the possibility of individual households being identified (for the 93% of sales occurring in postcode sectors with 3 or more cases)

  • by postcode district (eg NN9 …), shown only for postcode districts with 5 or more cases, to minimise the possibility of individual households being identified (for the 99% of sales occurring in postcode districts with 5 or more cases)

Help to Buy (mortgage guarantee) scheme

Figures published by HM Treasury for cumulative sales under the Help to Buy (mortgage guarantee) scheme by local authority and by postcode district are also available from Open Data Communities.

Next release

The next quarterly release will include activity to 30 June 2017, and will be published on 28 September 2017.

Note on completion dates

Starting with the release (dated 5 March 2015), the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) have revised the completion date for the entire Help to Buy equity loan time series, as recently advised by the National Audit Office.

The HCA have stopped counting payment date (when the money out is paid out by the HCA) and now report on the expected actual completion date. It is more accurate and is closer to the live situation, especially when the HCA now recognise an asset based on a completion, rather than exchange and approved claim.

As a result (and due to reinstating accounts) the HCA have seen movement of actual completion dates. There should not be this level of difference in the future as it was a one-off activity.

Published 9 December 2015
Last updated 22 June 2017 + show all updates
  1. Updated with statistics to 31 March 2017.

  2. Updated with statistics to 31 December 2016.

  3. Updated with statistics to 30 September 2016.

  4. Updated with statistics to 30 June 2016.

  5. Updated with statistics to 31 March 2016.

  6. Updated with statistics to 31 December 2015.

  7. First published.