According to the latest statistics from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, the number of completions is also down by 48 per cent compared to the first quarter of 2019.
Between January and March this year the total value of equity loans was £448m and supported the purchase of £1.7bn worth of property.
From a regional perspective, completions fell by the greatest margin in the North East, falling by 85 per cent compared to the first quarter of last year and 77 per cent compared to the first quarter of 2019.
Completions in London fell by the smallest amount, down 32 and 15 per cent on the first quarter of 2021 and 2019 respectively.
In the first quarter of the year, the mean price of properties purchases in the UK was pegged at £320,027.
Mean property purchase prices were down in all regions barring London, where it increased by one per cent compared to the same period last year.
The North East reported the largest decrease in mean property purchase price, falling 29 per cent to £165,242 compared to Q1 2021.
The report added that the median household income was lower in all regions in Q1 2022 than the final full quarter of the previous scheme in the first quarter of last year. The largest decrease was in the North East where it fell 24 per cent year-on-year to £35,892.
The figures showed that the mean deposit percentage was lower in all regions under the current scheme compared to the previous scheme. The department said this showed it was being used by more people who “do not have substantial amounts of savings”.
The report also found that there had been a lower proportion of detached properties bought through the scheme, and a higher proportion of semi-detached and flats compared to the previous version of the scheme.
It said the number of completions dropped “significantly” in the spring of 2020 due to the pandemic, but following the easing of restrictions and introduction of the stamp duty holiday it started to pick back up.
December 2020 saw the highest number of completions for the entire scheme. In April last year, the current Help to Buy scheme was introduced and eligibility criteria restricted the initiative to first-time buyers and new regional price caps were introduced. Completions consequently fell in all regions bar London.
The report said this could be because the regional cap stayed the same in the capital at £600,000.
