Our Bromsgrove Help to Buy valuation clients have had to make more of a leap to get onto the housing ladder than most. Help to Buy properties in the town are a massive £116.5K more than the average across the West Midlands county.
Our article in the Bromsgrove Standard highlights the difficulties faced by those wanting to access the Help to Buy scheme. One of our Help to Buy valuation surveyors, Kerry Baker, found data from the National Audit Office highlighting the challenging housing situation in the town.
Across the West Midlands area over 50% of new-build properties are available for purchase using the government scheme; in contrast, only one-third of new-builds in Bromsgrove can be bought through Help to Buy.
The data also showed that the proportion of first-time buyers in Bromsgrove using Help to Buy is the second lowest in the region: 64% vs a regional average of 77%. This is unsurprising, given that the earnings of those buying a Help to Buy property are substantially higher in Bromsgrove than in the rest of the West Midlands: £69.7K vs £51.1K.
Help to Buy is a shared ownership scheme, run by the government, that helps buyers afford a new-build home. For properties up to £600,000 that are being sold through the scheme, buyers contribute a 5% deposit and the government contributes a loan of up to 20% of the property value (or up to 40% if the property is in London). This loan is interest-free for 5 years. The remainder of the purchase price is covered by a standard mortgage from a bank or building society.
The current scheme will run up until March 2021. After this, a new scheme will be put in place and will run until April 2023. The new scheme will have the same limits on the percentage loan contribution as the previous one. However, there are two key differences between the new and old Help to Buy schemes. The new scheme will be available for first time buyers only (whereas the old one was open to anyone buying a new-build), and the maximum property value that it can be used with will differ according to region (rather than being capped at £600K wherever the house is in England). The government says that this will help target the scheme to those buyers who need it most.
For more information on Help to Buy and RICS valuations contact us, or check out our article: https://bromsgrovestandard.co.uk/news/bromsgrove-help-to-buy-homes-116k-more-than-west-midlands-average/
