Help to Buy Equity Loan repayment statistics: 1 April 2013 - 31 March 2019
The tables on this page set out Help to Buy: Equity Loan repayment statistics from April 2013 to March 2019.
Documents
Details
Tables 1 and 2 below set out Help to Buy: Equity Loan repayment statistics from April 2013 to March 2019.
These show:
-
221, 362 households bought homes with an equity loan between April 2013 and March 2019, and so far, 30,645 (13.8%) of them have paid off their loan.
-
20,399 (9.8%) households who took out an equity loan in 2014-19 repaid their loan within the five-year interest free period.
-
A total of 19,754 customers took out the loan to buy a home in 2013/14, with no interest to pay for five years. The first interest payments started in April 2018 and by 31 March 2019, 51% (10,246) of customers had repaid their loan.
Table 1: Equity loans repaid in each financial year
| Financial year equity loans were issued | Number of equity loans repaid to date | Cost of equity loans (£m) | Receipt from repaid equity loans (£m) | Percent of equity loans repaid | Number of loans issued |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-14 | 10,246 | 421.3 | 494.0 | 51.9% | 19,754 |
| 2014-15 | 10,006 | 440.4 | 499.1 | 35.9% | 27,874 |
| 2015-16 | 6,543 | 311.6 | 339.5 | 19.3% | 33,873 |
| 2016-17 | 3,460 | 181.5 | 188.1 | 8.7% | 39,807 |
| 2017-18 | 358 | 17.9 | 18.1 | 0.8% | 47,587 |
| 2018-19 | 32 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 0.1% | 52,467 |
Table 2: Equity loan original value and total repaid
| Financial year equity loans were repaid | Number of equity loans repaid in this financial year | Cost of repaid equity loans (£m) | Receipt from repaid equity loans (£m) | Percent of equity loans repaid of total (221,362*) issued |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013-14 | 8 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.0% |
| 2014-15 | 220 | 8.8 | 9.3 | 0.1% |
| 2015-16 | 2,037 | 89.4 | 99.9 | 0.9% |
| 2016-17 | 5,180 | 233.4 | 265.4 | 2.3% |
| 2017-18 | 9,479 | 426.2 | 481.5 | 4.3% |
| 2018-19 | 13,721 | 616.2 | 683.9 | 6.2% |
Notes
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) publish official statistics quarterly.
Statistics for Help to Buy: Equity Loan are based on legal completion dates for transactions under the scheme as operated in England.
*The equity loan official statistics for April 2013 to March 2019 published in July 2019 report the number of loans issued as 221, 405. The revised figure in this report is 221, 362 equity loans issued.
Background
The Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme began on 1 April 2013 with the aim of improving access and affordability for potential home owners and encouraging developers to build more homes. The current equity loan scheme, which is open to first time buyers and people moving up the property ladder ends on 31 March 2020. It will be replaced with a new scheme on 1 April 2021 for first time buyers only.
The Help to Buy: Equity Loan is a five-year interest free loan that homebuyers put towards buying a new build home. Homes England lends eligible homebuyers up to 20% or 40% in London of the cost of the home. This allows them to buy a home worth up to £600,000 with just a 5% deposit and they take out a repayment mortgage to pay the rest.
The amount a borrower repays to Homes England depends on the market value of their property at the time of repayment. For example, if they bought a home for £200,000 and had a 20% equity loan, they borrowed £40,000. They can pay back in 10% chunks or the full amount. So, if their home is now worth £210,000 and they repay 20%, they pay back £42,000.