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Half of new buyers need Help to Buy

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  • 23/06/2015
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Half of all first-time buyers plan to use the government’s Help to Buy scheme to purchase a home, research has found.

A study conducted by Ocean found that borrowers with small deposits were increasingly relying on the Help to Buy equity loan and mortgage guarantee schemes.

Half of would-be borrowers said they planned to use the scheme to get onto the housing ladder.

The government is planning to launch a Help to Buy ISA later this year and one-in-four (22%) of respondents said they would use the scheme to boost their savings.

This has decreased the pressure on the Bank of Mum and Dad but some 14% of people still expect to borrow from their family to meet their housing aspirations.

However, almost 40% of first-time buyers surveyed said they were still struggling to raise a deposit and that this was the main obstacle between them and their first home.

Gareth Shilton, Ocean’s spokesperson, said the Help to Buy scheme was assisting borrowers but more still needed to be done.

“The research indicates that the Help to Buy scheme is doing its job and helping to remove the deposit barrier that many first-time buyers face,” he said.

“Too many first-time buyers have been frozen out of the housing market because they couldn’t save the 25% needed to get the best deals and make their mortgage affordable.

“It’s interesting to see appetite for the new Help to Buy ISA also, and we’re looking forward to seeing take-up levels of this scheme once it’s launched. The big question, of course, is what will happen when the government steps back from supporting schemes to get the housing market moving. House builders and lenders need to be having conversations to see how they can work together to ensure the momentum isn’t lost.”

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