The Government’s Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme was launched more than seven years ago and has been a huge help to get people onto the property ladder.
However, the scheme was only ever intended to be a temporary way of helping buyers, and as such the Government are planning to phase out the Help to Buy scheme which will completely end in March 2023.
The first big change is that from 1st April 2021 a new Help to Buy England scheme will be launched which will only be available to first-time buyers purchasing a new build property (the changes don’t apply to the Help to Buy schemes in Scotland or Wales). As with the current scheme, the Government will lend buyers up to 20% of the cost of a newly built home, or up to 40% for those purchasing in Central London.
The second big change to Help to Buy England is the introduction of regional property price caps, with each area of the country having a maximum property value that will be eligible for the scheme as illustrated below:
| Region | Price cap for Help to Buy homes April 2021 to March 2023 |
| North East | £186,100 |
| North West | £224,400 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | £228,100 |
| East Midlands | £261,900 |
| West Midlands | £255,600 |
| East of England | £407,400 |
| London | £600,000 |
| South East | £437,600 |
| South West | £349,000 |
If you would like to know more about the Help to Buy Scheme, don’t hesitate to get in touch, please call us on 01676 533658 or email info@mortgage-consultancy.co.uk.
