Help To Buy Scheme

[geek84]

Hi Folks

Am I correct in saying that the Help To Buy Scheme is designed to help people buy their first property?

If so, there was a report in the news last week that a lot of buyers were not first time buyers.

Did anybody read/hear that?

Thanks

[MrC986]

The Help to Buy (HTB) was in part an aid for first time buyers, but also to stimulate growth in the housing sector, as well as helping those in the rented sector get a foot on the housing ownership ladder. It has, if you believe the stats however, helped more existing home owners than first timers....I've heard on some new build schemes as many as 75% of sales have used the HTB as it's considered a no brainer for many. I'm pretty sure the upper limit on value is currently over £400k.

[Doofus]

I worked with the DCLG to set up the first Shared ownership scheme. That's designed for first time buyers. The Equity Loan programme as well as the (now closed) Mortgage Guarantee were not designed exclusively for first timers.

They all fall under the Help To Buy umbrella.