Mortgage News
Help to Buy 1 behind 29% of new build reservations – Bellway
Just under a third of home buyers reserving Bellway properties used the Help to Buy equity loan, the house builder’s results have revealed.
The scheme was used in 29% of reservations made between its launch in April and the end of July 2013. Bellway said sales had improved significantly as a result.
Bellway chairman John Watson said: “There has been a significant improvement in trading conditions during the year, largely stimulated through wider access to more affordable, higher loan-to-value mortgages.
“Government support, and the Help to Buy scheme in particular since its launch on 1 April, has had a significant effect on the housing market, improving mortgage availability and helping to satisfy previously restrained consumer demand.”
Bellway saw the greatest improvements in the north, with completions increasing by 11.7% to 2,652 homes. The average selling price in the north was £163,534, a rise of 8%. Scotland and Yorkshire saw the most significant growth in completions.
In the south, completions increased by 5.2% to reach 3,000 homes. The average selling price was £219,094. Bellway’s London completions represented nearly a fifth of the group’s total housing revenue, with an average selling price of £240,539.
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Profits before tax were £140.9m, compared to £105.3m in 2012.