It has been revealed that a government initiative is helping thousands of families across the North East to get onto the housing ladder. New figures released by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) reveal that over 16,700 home buyers in the region have used the Help to Buy scheme since it was first launched four years ago, with 85% of purchasers as first time buyers.
Local housebuilder, Barratt Developments North East, is encouraging interested buyers throughout the region to take advantage of the popular scheme, which has already helped tens of thousands of people across the country to buy a brand new home.
The scheme enables anyone, both first time buyers and existing owners, to put down just 5% as a deposit for their new home and to take advantage of a government equity loan providing access to more affordable mortgage rates.
Fenton Hewitt, Sales Director at Barratt Developments North East, commented: “The North East has produced some strong results for the Help to Buy scheme and it is great to see areas where we build homes achieving such high figures for the scheme in the county.
“Help to Buy has proved so helpful to many home buyers across the region and we would encourage anyone looking to buy a home with lower upfront costs to get in touch.”
Help to Buy allows any interested buyer to secure a brand new home under the value of £600,000 with just a 5% deposit. The government lends the buyer 20% of the value of the property in the form of an interest free equity loan for five years, meaning that buyers then gain access to some of the great mortgage rates currently available with just a 75% mortgage.