More support for new home buyers

Scottish Government increases ‘Help to Buy’ funding

An extra £40 million will be invested in a scheme that helps people get on the housing ladder for the first time or move to a new property, Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirmed yesterday.

The Scottish Government’s Help to Buy (Scotland) initiative has allowed more than 1,100 people to buy a new home since its launch in September 2013.

This latest financial boost brings the overall investment to £275 million – investment that has brought much needed financial support to the Scottish construction sector.

The scheme helps people to buy a new-build house from a participating home builder without having to fund all of the purchase price. The buyer is required to contribute a five per cent deposit, with the Scottish Government taking an equity stake of up to 20 per cent of the value of the property.

The buyer then receives the outstanding sum through a repayment mortgage from a participating lender, repaying the Scottish Government’s equity stake when they can financially afford to do so.

So far 156 house-builders have signed up for the initiative, with six mortgage lenders offering mortgages to buyers wanting to benefit from it.

Ms Sturgeon said: “This additional £40 million funding will allow more people in Scotland to buy their first home and continue to make it easier for ‘second-steppers’ and others to move to a new property.

“Since it launched in September last year, our Help to Buy scheme has already helped over 1000 households into home ownership and this additional funding will benefit even more families.

“It is also bringing much needed economic growth to Scotland by supporting our housing industry and creating employment opportunities. This is alongside our continued commitment to investing in affordable housing for communities across Scotland.”

New Homes for Scotland Chair Sandy Adam said: “A significant proportion of new homes are now sold through Help to Buy, delivering on the Scottish Government’s key objectives of providing more homes, creating more jobs and stimulating the economy.

“Additional investment, such as that announced today, and longer term support assisting developers with investment planning will help the industry to, quite literally, build on the scheme’s initial success and step up production to the levels required to meet housing need across all tenures.

“But this welcome boost for Help to Buy (Scotland) is valuable in another way. Many people in Scotland want to own their own home. Raising aspiration and confidence in this way can only be achieved through initiatives such as this.”

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