Government says Help to Buy has already benefited over 750 homeowners 3rd January 2014

The Government has announced that in under 12 weeks the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme has already helped 750 property purchasers achieve their dream of buying a home. 

Last year's November figures showed that in the first month of the scheme more than 2,000 people had put in offers on homes and applied for a Help to Buy mortgage, but according to the Government that number has now trebled to more than 6,000.

The mortgages, once approved, would represent nearly £1 billion of new lending to aspiring home owners who may have previously found the property market

Prime Minister David Cameron said: "In less than 3 months, the scheme has already helped thousands of people. I want to see that continue in 2014 and for Help to Buy to help thousands more realise their dream of home ownership.out-of-reach because of the size of deposit required.

"But too many people have found themselves frozen out of the market in recent years as a result of the size of the deposit required.

"That is why as part of our long-term economic plan we introduced the Help to Buy scheme, so hardworking people with sufficient earnings can get on, fulfil their aspirations and enjoy the security of owning their own home.

In January, Barclays and Santander will introduce their own Help to Buy products onto the market, joining Lloyds Banking Group, RBS, HSBC, Virgin Money and Aldermore who have all launched products over the past three months.

The expansion will mean two-thirds of the entire UK mortgage market will offer products under the Help to Buy scheme, bringing home ownership to a growing number of people.

New figures also show that an additional 20,000 households have also been supported by the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme, a separate scheme where the government provides an interest-free loan to support the purchase of the newly built home.

The new figures on the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme show:

• Help to Buy continues to support responsible lending; on average households are looking to buy homes worth £160,000 which remains below the UK average house price of £247,000
• applicants will face average monthly repayments of around £900 and have an annual household income of around £45,000; this means a Help to Buy mortgage represents 23 per cent of borrowers’ gross income
• Help to Buy mortgage applications are still coming in from across the country, and around three-quarters are from outside London and the South East, and over 80 per cent are from first time buyers
• The large number of applications for Help to Buy mortgages suggests the high Loan-To-Value part of the mortgage market is once again moving. High Loan-To-Value mortgages have been the main route to ownership for most first time buyers over the last 30 years, but there have been fewer products available in recent years.