Homebuyers reject return of Help to Buy

More than half of homebuyers believe bringing back Help to Buy will not work, new research finds.

Some 54% don’t think that the Help to Buy scheme should be re-introduced, according to estate agent comparison site GetAgent.

And as many as 79% say Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is simply looking to secure votes at the next general election, rather than genuinely trying to help first-time buyers.

The PM is reported to be interested in reintroducing Help to Buy so hard-up renters can climb onto the housing ladder, according to The Times.

The programme which gave first-time buyers an interest free loan to help them meet the asking price for a property, was ditched in October last year. But the Government may bring it back as an incentive for tenants to escape spiralling rents.

Whisperings

Propertymark said that if Help to Buy does comes back it must allow first-time buyers to purchase older homes and not just new builds.

The research by GetAgent shows that while 81% of homebuyers want to see the government do more to reduce the cost of homeownership, just 46% think the Help to Buy scheme should be re-introduced.

Colby Short, co-founder and CEO of GetAgent.co.uk, says: “As with any whisperings on government housing policy, we won’t really know what Help to Buy 2.0 looks like until it is fully announced.

Fuelling demand without addressing supply is a short-term fix.”

“Fuelling demand without addressing supply is a short-term fix to a long-term problem and, in doing so, only drives house prices ever higher to the detriment of those such schemes are supposed to help.

“Unfortunately, the government’s record on delivering more homes speaks for itself, and so it’s no surprise that today’s homebuyers are highly sceptical of the re-introduction of Help to Buy.”