Too early to assess Help to Buy scheme says Hunters estate agents15th November 2013

Martin Robinson, director of Hunters Property Group, has questioned whether it is too soon to tell the impact of Help to Buy.

"The news that Help to Buy is already delivering is not our experience as a national company so far. We have certainly seen more enquiries from first and second time buyers who haven’t got the deposit to move on, but those transactions haven’t come to fruition yet. We have also seen an increase in enquiries from vendors about the scheme and many are taking the decision to hold off on reducing their property price, until they see the scheme in full swing.

“We have no doubt that the scheme will start having an impact soon, but it is still too early to really assess it properly. We think it has probably taken the market the first month to understand the full implications of it, as until recently it had remained a well-kept secret.

“The uptake figures that are being reported by Halifax and RBS* are not even a drop in ocean in the context of the market as a whole. The challenging factor in the property market at the moment remains in the lack of properties that are for sale. If you are now able to get a mortgage through Help to Buy, there is still a struggle finding something to buy.”

* Halifax and RBS report that they have received 2,384 applications for mortgages under the scheme