Home » Uncategorised »
Over 15,000 Hopeful Buyers Interested in Help to Buy London
This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
The Help to Buy London scheme has received more than 15,000 expressions of interest since it was launched on 1st February.
The Government scheme is aimed at helping the capital’s buyers get onto the property ladder.
Over 15,000 Hopeful Buyers Interested in Help to Buy London
It offers those with a 5% deposit an interest-free equity loan of up to 40% of a property’s purchase price. Buyers using the scheme can only purchase new build homes worth up to £600,000.
They will then need a mortgage of up to 55% of the property’s value.
Find out more about how to access the Help to Buy London scheme here: /help-to-buy-london/
However, property expert Henry Pryor has criticised the scheme due to the risk of negative equity.
He states: “Most people taking up the Government’s offer have no first hand experience of negative equity. You need to be over 35 to have lived through a property recession in the capital.
“They are scary things and although you will be sharing the pain with Government, the state will want its money back before you get yours.”1
The Head of Residential Research at JLL, Adam Challis, also expresses concern.
He adds: “I am concerned that the Government’s narrow focus on first time buyer support overlooks the hundreds of thousands that join the private rented sector each year, or the millions on housing waiting lists.
“Help to Buy only addresses a very narrow band of genuine housing need and represents a distraction from the bigger housing supply crisis in this country.”1
Do you believe the Help to Buy London scheme will have an adverse effect on London’s private rental sector?
1 http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/help-to-buy-scheme-attracts-over-15000-expressions-of-interest-in-just-ten-days/
