A report from The Telegraph showed that thousands of first-time buyers on the Help To Buy scheme have fallen behind in payments as inflation and rising mortgage rates have placed immense financial pressure on some.
The Freedom of Information (FOI) request by the Telegraph found that the number of first-time buyers who are in arrears has doubled in the last year to 4,854 households.
The Help to Buy scheme closed for applications last year and offered first-time buyers equity loans of 20 per cent, (40 per cent in London), to help them buy new build homes with a five per cent deposit.
The loans were interest-free for five years, but for loans taken out between 2013 to 2021 was 1.75 per cent for a year which increased every year by the Retail Price Index plus one per cent.
For those who bought more recently, the rate rises by the Consumer Prices Index plus two per cent.
This has led to increasing financial pressure on some borrowers, with London Mayor Sadiq Khan calling on the government to freeze payments for Help to Buy loans.
At the Conservative conference, housing minister Rachel McLean ruled out reviving the Help to Buy scheme as it inflated house prices.
This month, Mortgage Solutions is asking brokers whether they have seen higher numbers of Help to Buy customers hitting the end of the interest-free period struggling to remortgage in the last six months?
Have you seen a rise in Help to Buy customers struggling to remortgage at the end of their interest-free period in the last six months?
Anna is currently the deputy editor for Mortgage Solutions and editor for Specialist Lending Solutions. She has worked as a journalist since 2019, having secured her Gold Standard NCTJ diploma from News Associates in a fast-track six-month course.
She started her career as a report at specialist publication The Insurance Insider covering a wide range of areas before joining Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions in 2021.
In her role, she helps put together and structure the news agenda for the day and writes up press releases, reports, interviews, analyses and exclusives across both titles. She also commissions blogs for Specialist Lending Solutions and hosts online masterclasses and in-person events across the business.
She has been shortlisted for three journalism awards, which include BIBA Journalist and Media Awards Scoop of Year Award in 2020, Headline Money Mortgage Journalist of the Year Award (B2B) in 2022 and 2023.
Prior to being a journalist, Anna worked in ecommerce across Snow + Rock, Cycle Surgery and Runners Need websites, and before that worked at specialist financial PR firm Rostrum.
In her spare time, Anna enjoys reading, seeing live music, and cooking for friends and family. When she gets a chance, she also enjoys hiking, skiing and indoor rock climbing.
