Official Statistics

Help to Buy: equity loan scheme: data to 31 May 2023

Updated 6 February 2024

Applies to England

The final cut off for completions for the Help to Buy Equity Loan 2021-2023 scheme was 31 May 2023. Homes England expect no further revisions to the data, so this is the last release for the Help to Buy: Equity Loan data.

On 1 April 2021, the 2021-2023 scheme of Help to Buy 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 2021-2023 scheme between 1 April and 31 May 2021.

The Help to Buy: Equity Loan 2021-2023 scheme closed to new applications on 31 October 2022. Any transactions were to be completed by 31 March 2023, but a homebuilder could apply for an extension up to 31 May 2023 to allow purchasers to complete the buying process.

1 April to 31 May 2023 was the final extension period for the 2021-2023 Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme, so only final completions which were granted an extension are included. As such, completions for this period are very low, and it is not advisable to compare the figures for this period with previous quarters.

1. Key statistics

Between 1 April and 31 May 2023  106  properties were bought with an equity loan, down by 99% from the same period in 2022.

^{[footnote 3]}

From 1 April 2013 to 31 May 2023, 387,195  properties were bought with an equity loan. Of which, 328,346 were purchased by first-time buyers.

The total value of these equity loans is £24.7 billion.

The value of the properties sold under the scheme totals £109.2 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 2021-2023 scheme

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]}.

Help to Buy: Equity Loan 2021-2023 closed to new applications on 31 October 2022. Any transactions were to be completed by 31 March 2023, but a homebuilder could apply for an extension up to 31 May 2023 to allow purchasers to complete the buying process.

3. Figures for 1 April to 31 May 2023

In the final two months of the scheme (1 April to 31 May 2023)^{[footnote 4]}, there were 106 properties purchased with a Help to Buy: Equity Loan, using a total value of £11 million in equity loans and supporting the purchase of £35 million worth of property.

The total number of completions during 1 April to 31 May 2023 were down by 99% 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 Help to Buy scheme (2021-2023) was introduced with eligibility criteria restricted to First Time Buyers and new regional price caps. Since then, completions have reduced. In May 2023, completions were down by 99% when compared to 2022 Q2 due to the scheme ending.

Figure 1. Total completions using the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme in England, by month, June 2019 to May 2023

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As can be seen from Figure 2 below, the introduction of the Help to Buy scheme (2021-2023) 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 between 1 April to 31 May 2023 in all regions when compared to 2022 Q2.^{[footnote 5]} The largest decrease was in the North East and East Midlands (-100%), whilst the smallest decrease was in London (-97%).

Figure 2. Total completions using the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme scaled by number of households^{[footnote 6]}, by English region, by quarter, 1 July 2019 to 31 May 2023

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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 2021-2023 scheme 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 6 of 9 regions compared to the previous scheme. The largest decrease was in the North East where the mean property purchase price fell by 14% from the 2013-2021 scheme, and the largest increase was in London where it increased by 4%.

Figure 3. Mean property price of homes purchased using the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme, by English region, by quarter, 1 July 2019 to 31 May 2023

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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 2021-2023 Help to Buy 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 compared to the previous scheme in 5 of 9 regions. The largest decrease was in the North East where the median household income fell by 7% from the 2013-2021 scheme, and the largest increase was in the East of England where it increased by 9%.

Figure 4. Median total applicant household income of purchasers using the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme, by English region, by quarter, 1 July 2019 to 31 May 2023

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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 in the 2021-2023 scheme compared to the previous scheme decreased in 8 of 9 regions. The mean deposit percentage fell by 1 percentage point or more in all regions except London, and the absolute mean deposit amount also fell in all regions except London. The largest decrease was in the North East where the absolute mean deposit amount fell by 31% in the 2021-2023 scheme compared to the 2013-2021 scheme, and it increased by 3% in London.

Figure 5. Mean deposit percentage of homes purchased using the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme, by English region, by quarter, 1 July 2019 to 31 May 2023

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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 2021-2023 Help to Buy scheme, there has been a lower proportion of detached and 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 and 18% were flats. Whereas, in the 2021-2023 scheme, the proportion of detached properties purchased has fallen to 12%, whilst the proportion of flats increased to 35%.

Help to Buy continues to mainly support the purchase of houses with 79% 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 2021-2023 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 2021-2023 scheme and the previous scheme was in the South East where the proportion of flats increased by 12 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

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7.2 Number of bedrooms

Following the introduction of the 2021-2023 Help to Buy 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 6% of properties in the 2021-2023 scheme. Correspondingly, the proportion of one or two bedroom properties purchased using Help to Buy has increased under the 2021-2023 scheme. In the previous scheme, 28% of properties purchased were one or two bedroom properties compared to 49% of properties in the 2021-2023 scheme. This is again to be expected given the higher proportion of 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 2021-2023 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 one and two bedroom properties increased in all regions in the 2021-2023 scheme when compared to the previous scheme. The largest increase was in the West Midlands where the proportion of one and two bedroom properties increased by 23 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

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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. Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to. You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website. ↩

4. 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. ↩

5. Due to it being the final extension period for the scheme, completions between 1 April to 31 May 2023 were very low. There were no completions in the North East or East Midlands in this period. ↩

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