Out of a total of 48,393 Help to Buy completions to date, 82% have been made by first-time buyers.
Help to Buy also continues to support responsible lending: the average house price for both parts of the scheme, at £187,800 (£153,148 for the mortgage guarantee and £209,390 for the equity loan scheme), remains significantly below the national average house price of £265,000.
In the first 9 months of the Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee 18,564 mortgages were completed with the support of the scheme. Of these, 79% were purchases by first time buyers. The total value of mortgages supported by the scheme is £2.7 billion.
Compared to total mortgage completions in each region, the scheme is supporting a higher proportion of mortgages in the North West and the East, and a lower proportion in London and the South East.
The mean value of a property purchased or remortgaged through the scheme is £153,148, compared to a national average house price of £265,000.
Miguel Sard, Head of Santander Mortgages, said:
“Santander is committed to helping people realise their dream of purchasing their own home. In the first six months of 2014, we have seen strong demand for our Help to Buy 2 products from across the country, with more than 3,000 completions in H1 and more than 5,000 in the year to date. Four out of five properties purchased with Santander Help to Buy: Mortgage Guarantee products have a value of less than £200,000, and 80% of borrowers have been first-time buyers. We expect demand for Help to Buy to continue as the mortgage market experiences its post-summer seasonal uplift.”
Brian Murphy, Head of Lending at Mortgage Advice Bureau, comments:
“The Help to Buy scheme has successfully boosted confidence among first-time buyers and enabled 48,393 properties to be purchased to date. Despite having launched six months later than the equity loan scheme, the number of completions using the mortgage guarantee is catching up fast, which shows the importance of 95% loan-to-value lending to consumers in the current market.
“Both parts of the Help to Buy scheme have assisted younger, less affluent buyers who are using the scheme to purchase affordable rather than extravagant properties. The latest data from our National Mortgage Index shows consumers using the equity loan scheme in July had an average age of 32.2 (compared to 36.3 in the wider market) and borrowed just £140,138. This is well below the market average, so claims that the scheme is helping wealthy homeowners have been well and truly debunked.
“Lloyds recently imposed a £150,000 limit on its Help to Buy equity loan ending, but with the average HTB1 borrower taking a mortgage 7% lower than this, there wouldn’t be too much of an impact should other lenders follow suit.
“The scheme still has a vital role to play in today’s market and now is not the time to pull the rug from under first-time buyers’ feet. Affordability remains a key concern, and schemes such as Help to Buy are crucial in enabling buyers who are unable to save for hefty deposits to achieve their homeowning aspirations. There remains ample room for more lenders to put their weight behind the scheme and help to improve the options for consumers.”
