Press release

Over 300,000 homes sold with Help to Buy

A young farmer from Leicestershire has become the 300,000th homeowner to use the Help to Buy: Equity Loan Scheme since its launch in 2013.

From:
Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (2018 to 2021) and The Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP
Published
13 May 2021
This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

Sam Legg, 19, from Asfordby, bought the 300,000th Help to Buy home and is now urging others to join the government scheme.

The official Help to Buy statistics released today (13 May 2021) reveal:

  • 313,043 households have now bought a home with the support of the Help to Buy: Equity Loan Scheme since its launch in 2013
  • In the 3 months up to December 2020, there were 21,026 completions, the highest quarterly annual total ever and 40% higher than the same period in 2019
  • Most of the home purchases in the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme were made by first-time buyers, accounting for 257,520 (82%) of total purchases

Housing Secretary Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP said:

Helping people get a foot on the housing ladder is central to the mission of this government.

Today’s figures show over 300,000 homes have been sold through our Help to Buy scheme which hugely benefits first time buyers. Alongside other measures such as the stamp duty cut and new mortgage guarantee scheme, Help to Buy will continue to help more and more people to have a home that is truly their own.

Chair of Homes England Peter Freeman said:

Today’s milestone underlines how successful the scheme has been in helping people buy their own home. With the original Help to Buy scheme, and the new scheme aimed specifically at first time buyers, we look forward to helping more people like Sam achieve their dream of home ownership.

Sam Legg is Help to Buy’s 300,000th customer having recently bought his first home in Asfordby, Leicestershire living with his girlfriend Megan and dog Del Boy.

Sam, who works as a farmer locally, said:

I am very happy to have bought my first home which would not have been possible without Help to Buy. The whole process went very smoothly, and I hope many more people can be helped to buy their first home in the same way.

The new Help to Buy: Equity Loan for first time buyers started on 1 April and will continue to increase the supply of new homes over the next two years and help thousands more people own their home.

The government recently announced a further two-month extension for Help to Buy customers following delays caused by the pandemic. The extension will run to 31 May, allowing homebuilders to complete the build and buyers to legally complete their purchase.

Purchasers can borrow up to 20% of the cost of a new build (40% in London), funding the balance via a mortgage and repaying the loan when they sell.

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Updates to this page

Published 13 May 2021

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