Home buy schemes help 100,000 families on to property ladder

More than 100,000 people have used various government schemes to buy a home over the last four years.

Households have taken advantage of schemes such as Right to Buy and Help to Buy. The Right to Buy scheme gives people who have lived in a council property for at least five years the right to buy at a discount.

With the Help to Buy schemes, the government provides loans or guarantees to make it easier for buyers to get a mortgage.

Right to Buy has helped almost 24,000 social tenants buy their home, while 48,000 have been able to purchase a property thanks to the Help to Buy schemes. A further 41,000 have taken advantage of other schemes such as shared ownership.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said: “We’re now seeing buyers returning to the market in droves, and new homes being built across the country. Both buying and building are at their highest levels since 2007.”

The Help to Buy scheme has also provided a welcome boost to the building industry. Over 400,000 homes have been built since 2010. Last year saw 122,590 new homes built, which is the highest since 2007.

Speaking about Right to Buy, Housing Minister Kris Hopkins said: “Strengthening the scheme has made tenants believe they can buy their home, and they are voting with their feet. But we want to go further, so that’s why we’ll soon be ensuring discounts rise with inflation, and increasing maximum discount for houses, so more social tenants can take up their Right to Buy in 2014.”

Please contact Peter Westbrook, Head of Residential Property, if you would like more information about the legal aspects of buying and selling a home.