Official Statistics

Help to Buy: equity loan scheme: data to 31 December 2022

Published 11 May 2023

Applies to England

Date of next publication: It is expected that the Help to Buy: Equity Loan statistics data to 31 March 2023 will be published in August 2023 (provisional). The date will be pre-announced on the GOV.UK publication release calendar.

On 1 April 2021, the current scheme of Help to Buy (2021-2023) was introduced. This scheme has different eligibility criteria^{[footnote 1]} to the previous scheme (2013-2021) and introduced regional price caps^{[footnote 2]}. For more information, please see the technical notes. Due to delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the previous scheme ran simultaneously to the current scheme between 1 April and 31 May 2021. The statistics reported in this release (1 October to 31 December 2022) represent the sixth quarter where only the current scheme was in effect.

Completions from this quarter, 2022 Q4, will be compared against completions in the same quarter of the previous year, 2021 Q4. During these periods, only the current Help to Buy scheme (2021-2023) was running.

1. Key statistics

Between 1 October and 31 December 2022 8,227 properties were bought with an equity loan, down by 8% from the same period in 2021.

From 1 April 2013 to 31 December 2022, 383,903 properties were bought with an equity loan. Of which, 325,054 were purchased by first-time buyers.

The total value of these equity loans so far totals £24.4 billion.

The value of the properties sold under the scheme totals £108 billion.

2. About the Help to Buy: Equity Loan Scheme

Help to Buy: Equity Loans were introduced on 1 April 2013 as a means for helping buyers purchase new build properties. The government would provide, via an equity loan, up to 20% of the value of a property (up to 40% in London since 1 February 2016) which is repayable when the property is sold in the future. In 2020, it was announced that the Help to Buy scheme would change on 1 April 2021 with new eligibility criteria^{[footnote 1]} and regional price caps^{[footnote 2]}.

The previous scheme deadlines initially required properties to be built out by the end of December 2020 and completed by the end of March 2021. However, due to delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, an extension was granted until 28 February 2021 for properties to be built out and until 31 May 2021 for legal sale completion.

2.1 Previous Scheme (2013-2021)

The Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme which ran from 1 April 2013 to 31 May 2021 offered customers an equity loan of up to 20% of the purchase price of a new build property with a maximum value of £600,000. In Greater London, the maximum equity loan was increased to 40% in February 2016. The scheme was open to anyone purchasing a property, but was targeted at first-time buyers, who made up 82% of all purchases. See more detailed analysis of the previous Help to Buy scheme.

2.2 Current Scheme (2021-2023)

The Help to Buy: Equity Loan 2021-2023 scheme was initially announced in 2018 and launched on 1 April 2021. The scheme is similar to the 2013-2021 scheme, but is limited to first-time buyers^{[footnote 1]} and the purchase price of the properties is capped by region^{[footnote 2]}.

The Help to Buy: Equity Loan 2021-2023 scheme closed to new applications on 31 October 2022.  Any final transactions were to be legally completed by 31 March 2023 but a homebuilder can apply to allow a legal completion on a purchase up to 31 May 2023.

3. Quarterly figures for 2022 Q4

In 2022 Q4 (1 October to 31 December 2022)^{[footnote 3]}, there were 8,227 properties purchased with a Help to Buy: Equity Loan, using a total value of £689 million in equity loans and supporting the purchase of £2,655 million worth of property.

The total number of completions in 2022 Q4 were down by 8% compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

As can be seen from Figure 1 below, the number of completions dropped significantly during the initial restrictions introduced in spring 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and, in May 2020, completions were down by 66% when compared to May 2019. Following the easing of restrictions and the introduction of the stamp duty holiday in July 2020, completions increased, with December 2020 achieving the highest number of completions for the entire scheme. In April 2021, the current Help to Buy scheme was introduced with eligibility criteria restricted to First Time Buyers and new regional price caps. Since then, completions have reduced. In December 2022, completions were down by 8% when compared to December 2021.

Figure 1. Total completions using the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme in England, by month, June 2019 to December 2022

Download this chart’s data

As can be seen from Figure 2 below, the introduction of the current Help to Buy scheme in 2021 Q2 led to a reduction in completions compared to 2021 Q1 in all regions of England except London, where completions increased by 3%. The decreases seen across England are due in part to the regional price caps which were introduced. London, however, was not subject to a change in price cap maintaining the £600,000 price cap from the previous Help to Buy scheme. This may be a reason why completions did not decline in London in the same manner in 2021 Q2.

Completions were down in 2022 Q4 in all regions except London (54%) and the East of England (5%) when compared to the same quarter of the previous year, 2021 Q4. Completions in the West Midlands were down by the greatest amount, reducing by 42% in 2022 Q4 when compared to 2021 Q4. The decrease in the South West and South East was comparably the least with completions decreasing by 12% in 2022 Q4 when compared to 2021 Q4.

Figure 2. Total completions using the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme scaled by number of households^{[footnote 4]}, by English region, by quarter, 2019 Q2 to 2022 Q4

Download this chart’s data

4. Property purchase price

The previous Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme (2013-2021) could be used to purchase a new build property up to the value of £600,000 anywhere in England. However, the current scheme (2021-23) introduced regional price caps^{[footnote 2]} which increased the restrictions on purchases in regions outside of London.

As can be seen from Figure 3 below, the introduction of these price caps has led to a reduction in the mean purchase price of properties using the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme in 2022 Q4 when compared to 2021 Q1, the last full quarter of the previous scheme, in all regions. The largest decrease was in the North East where the mean property purchase price fell by 27% in 2022 Q4 compared to 2021 Q1.

Figure 3. Mean property price of homes purchased using the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme, by English Region, by quarter, 2019 Q2 to 2022 Q4

Download this chart’s data

5. Applicant household incomes

The total applicant household income of properties purchased using the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme refers to the total income for the household, irrespective of how many members of that household are making the purchase.

The introduction of the current Help to Buy (2021-23) scheme was intended to target more lower income households through the introduction of the first-time buyer eligibility criteria^{[footnote 1]}.

As can be seen from Figure 4 below, the median household income of applicants using the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme is also lower in 2022 Q4 when compared to 2021 Q1, the final full quarter of the previous scheme, in all regions except London, where the median household income increased by 3%. The largest decrease was in the North East where the median household income fell by 23% in 2022 Q4 when compared to 2021 Q1.

Figure 4. Median total applicant household income of purchasers using the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme, by English region, by quarter, 2019 Q2 to 2022 Q4

Download this chart’s data

6. Purchaser deposits

In order to qualify for a Help to Buy: Equity Loan, the purchaser is required to have a minimum 5% deposit on the purchase price of the property.

As can be seen from Figure 5 below, the mean deposit percentage is lower in 2022 Q4 when compared to the final full quarter of the previous scheme, 2021 Q1, in most regions. The mean deposit percentage fell by 1 percentage point in all regions in 2022 Q4 when compared to 2021 Q1, except for London where it increased by 1 percentage point, and the South East, Yorkshire and the Humber, and the North West, where it remained the same. The absolute mean deposit amount decreased in 2022 Q4 when compared to 2021 Q1 in all regions except London, where the mean deposit amount increased by 4%. The largest decrease was in the North East where the absolute mean deposit amount fell by 43% in 2022 Q4 when compared to 2021 Q1.

Figure 5. Mean deposit percentage of homes purchased using the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme, by English Region, by quarter, 2019 Q2 to 2022 Q4

Download this chart’s data

7. Property characteristics

Property characteristics including the property type and the number of bedrooms of properties sold under the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme are recorded for each completion in the scheme. The property type has been categorised into Detached, Semi-Detached, Terraced, Bungalow and Flat (including 84 Studio apartments) and the number of bedrooms into 1, 2, 3 and 4 or more bedroom properties.

7.1 Property type

Following the introduction of the current Help to Buy (2021-23) scheme, there has been a lower proportion of detached and a higher proportion of semi-detached and flat properties sold compared to the previous (2013-21) scheme. In the previous scheme, 32% of properties purchased with a Help to Buy Equity Loan were detached, 32% were semi-detached and 18% were flats. Whereas, in the current scheme so far, the proportion of detached properties purchased has fallen to 12%, whilst the proportion of semi-detached and flats increased to 40% and 33% respectively.

Help to Buy continues to mainly support the purchase of houses with 80% of all transactions either for detached, semi-detached, terraced or bungalow properties since 1 April 2013.

As can be seen from Figure 6 below, the proportion of homes purchased using Help to Buy by property type differs by region. The largest changes in property type between the current scheme and the previous scheme was in the North East where the proportion of detached properties fell by 32 percentage points and the proportion of semi-detached properties increased by 29 percentage points. The largest change in flats between the current scheme and the previous scheme was in the South East where the proportion of flats increased by 10 percentage points.

Figure 6. Proportion of type of properties purchased using the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme, by English Region and Help to Buy scheme

Download this chart’s data

7.2 Number of bedrooms

Following the introduction of the current Help to Buy (2021-23) scheme, there has been a lower proportion of 4 or more bedroom properties sold compared to the previous (2013-21) scheme. This is to be expected given there has been a lower proportion of detached properties. In the previous scheme, 28% of properties purchased were 4 or more bed properties compared to 7% of properties in the current scheme.

Correspondingly, the proportion of 1 or 2 bedroom properties purchased using Help to Buy has increased under the current scheme. In the previous scheme, 28% of properties purchased were 1 or 2 bedroom properties compared to 48% of properties in the current scheme. This is again to be expected given the higher proportion of semi-detached properties and flats.

As can be seen from Figure 7 below, the proportion of homes purchased using Help to Buy by number of bedrooms differs by region. In all regions, the proportion of 4 or more bedroom properties decreased in the current scheme when compared to the previous scheme. The largest decrease in number of bedrooms was in the North West where the proportion of 4 or more bedroom properties fell by 31 percentage points. The proportion of 1 or 2 bedroom properties increased in all regions in the current scheme when compared to the previous scheme. The largest increase was in the West Midlands where the proportion of 1 or 2 bedroom properties increased by 22 percentage points.

Figure 7. Proportion of number of bedroom properties purchased using the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme, by English Region and Help to Buy scheme

Download this chart’s data

8. Accompanying tables

Accompanying tables are available to download alongside this release:

• Table 1. Number and value of Help to Buy: Equity Loans (quarterly), by local authority, England

• Table 1b. Number and value of Help to Buy: Equity Loans (quarterly) for first time buyers, by local authority, England

• Table 2. Number and value of Help to Buy: Equity Loans (monthly), England

The statistical release Tables 1 - 9b which appeared in previous versions of this release are also available to download from the link above.

In addition, legacy Help to Buy: NewBuy tables are also available at the link above. These tables have not been updated. For more information please see the technical notes.

• Table 3. Cumulative number of Help to Buy: NewBuy completions (since March 2012) by local authority, England

• Table 10. Number of legal completions, Government liability (£m), and cost to Government (£m) under the Help to Buy: NewBuy Guarantee scheme, England

9. Technical notes

Please see the accompanying technical notes for further details.

10. Enquiries

Media enquiries:
Office hours: 0303 444 1209
Email: NewsDesk@levellingup.gov.uk

Public enquiries and Responsible Statistician: Elise Whiteley
Email: housing.statistics@levellingup.gov.uk

Information on Official Statistics is available via the UK Statistics Authority website.

Information about statistics at DLUHC is available via the Department’s website.

1. In order to qualify for the Help to Buy: Equity Loan 2021-2023 scheme, the purchaser(s) must be a First Time Buyer(s) meaning purchaser(s) who have not previously acquired via purchase, gift, trust or inheritance a major interest in a dwelling or an equivalent interest in residential land situated anywhere in the world; and/or benefited from any form of Sharia mortgage finance. If the Eligible Dwelling is being bought by more than one individual then all purchasers must be First Time Buyers. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

2. The Regional Purchase Price Caps are fixed for the duration of the Help to Buy: Equity Loan 2021-2023 scheme. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

3. Between 2014 and 2019, quarters two and four have generally seen more Help to Buy completions than quarters one and three as developers have half-year and year-end sales targets. However, the restrictions introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by the measures introduced to stimulate the housing market and changes to the Help to Buy scheme have meant that quarterly comparisons since 2020 Q1 are not as robust. ↩

4. The number of households, 2021, as given by the Census 2021 data. ↩