Official Statistics

Help to Buy: equity loan scheme: data to 31 December 2021

Published 11 May 2022

Applies to England

Date of next publication: It is expected that the Help to Buy: Equity Loan statistics to March 2022 will be published in July 2022. The date will be pre-announced on the GOV.UK publication release calendar

On 1 April 2021, the current scheme of Help to Buy was introduced, this scheme has different eligibility criteria to the previous scheme (2013-2021), for more information please see technical notes. Due to delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the previous scheme ran simultaneously to the new scheme between 1 April and 31 May 2021. The statistics reported in this release (October to December 2021) represent the second quarter where only the current scheme was in effect.

Due to the large variation seen in Help to Buy: Equity Loan completions in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, completions from this quarter will be mainly compared against completions in 2019. This allows comparisons to be more representative of a typical quarter.

1. Key statistics

Between 1 October and 31 December 2021 8,913 properties were bought with an equity loan, down by 41% from the same period in 2019.

From 1 April 2013 to 31 December 2021, 355,634 properties were bought with an equity loan.

The total value of these equity loans so far totals £22 billion.

The value of the properties sold under the scheme totals £99 billion.

2. About the Help to Buy: equity loan scheme

Help to Buy: Equity Loans were introduced on 1 April 2013 as a means for helping buyers purchase new build properties. The government would provide, via an equity loan, up to 20% of the value of a property (up to 40% in London since February 2016) which is repayable when the property is sold in the future. In 2020, it was announced that the Help to Buy scheme would change on 1 April 2021 with new eligibility criteria and regional price caps.

The previous scheme deadlines initially required properties to be built out by the end of December 2020 and completed by the end of March 2021. However, due to delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, an extension was granted until 28 February 2021 for properties to be built out and for legal sale completion until 31 May 2021.

2.1 Previous scheme (2013-2021)

The Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme which ran from April 2013 to May 2021 offered customers an equity loan of up to 20% of the purchase price of a new build property with a maximum value of £600,000. In Greater London, the maximum equity loan was increased to 40% in February 2016. The scheme was open to anyone purchasing a property, but was targeted at first-time buyers, who made up 82% of all purchases. See more detailed analysis of the previous Help to Buy scheme.

2.2 Current scheme (2021-2023)

The Help to Buy: Equity Loan 2021-2023 scheme was announced in 2018 and launched on 1 April 2021. The scheme is similar to the 2013-2021 scheme, but is limited to first-time buyers^{[footnote 1]} and the purchase price of the properties is capped by region^{[footnote 2]}.

2.3 Quarterly figures for 2021 Q4

In 2021 Q4 (1 October to 31 December 2021), there were 8,913 properties purchased with a Help to Buy: Equity Loan, using a total value of £604 million in equity loans and supporting the purchase of £2,543 million worth of property.

The total number of completions in 2021 Q4 were up by 22% compared to the previous quarter, while they were down by 41% compared to 2019 Q4.

In Figure 1 below, the grey line shows the monthly number of completions, whilst the blue line is the 12 month rolling average.

Figure 1. Total completions using Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme in England, by month (March 2019 to December 2021)

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As can be seen from the figure above, the number of completions dropped significantly during the initial restrictions imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and completions in May 2020 were down by 66% when compared to May 2019.

Following the removal of restrictions and the introduction of the stamp duty holiday in July 2020, completions increased, with December 2020 having the highest number of completions for the entire scheme, 35% higher than December 2019.

Following the introduction of the current Help to Buy scheme in April 2021 with eligibility restricted to first time buyers and new regional price caps, completions have reduced. In December 2021, completions were down by 40% compared to December 2019.

Figure 2. Total completions using the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme, scaled by household population^{[footnote 3]}, Quarterly from 2019 Q1 to 2021 Q4, by English region

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The introduction of the new scheme in 2021 Q2 led to a reduction in completions compared to 2021 Q1 in all regions of England except London. The decreases seen across England are due in part to the regional price caps which were introduced. London, however, was not subject to a change in price cap maintaining the £600,000 price cap from the previous Help to Buy scheme. This may be a reason why completions did not decline in the same manner in 2021 Q2.

In all regions, completions were down in 2021 Q4 when compared to 2019 Q4. Completions in the North West are down by the greatest amount, whilst the decrease in London is comparably the least with completions reducing by 62% and 15% respectively between 2019 Q4 and 2021 Q4.

Between 2014 and 2019, quarters two and four have generally seen more Help to Buy completions than quarters one and three as developers have half-year and year-end sales targets. However, the restrictions introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by the measures introduced to stimulate the housing market, have meant that quarterly comparisons since 2020 Q1 are not as robust.

3. Property purchase price

The previous Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme (2013-2021) could be used to purchase a new build property up to the value of £600,000 anywhere in England, whereas the new scheme introduced regional price caps^{[footnote 2]} which increased the restrictions on the purchases in regions outside of London.

As can be seen from Figure 3 below, the introduction of these price caps has led to a reduction in the mean purchase price of properties in most regions. Compared to 2021 Q1, the last full quarter of the previous scheme, the mean property price of the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme were down in all regions in 2021 Q4. The largest decrease was in the North East and North West, where the mean property price reduced by 30% and 27% respectively.

Figure 3. Mean property price of homes purchased using Help to Buy: Equity Loans, by English region (2019 Q1 to 2021 Q4)

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4. Applicant household incomes

The total applicant household income of properties purchased using the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme refers to the total income for the household, regardless of how many members of that household are making the purchase.

The introduction of the current scheme of Help to Buy (2021-23) was intended to target more lower income households through the introduction of the first-time buyer eligibility criteria^{[footnote 1]}.

As can be seen from Figure 4 below, the median household income in all regions is lower in 2021 Q4 than in the final full quarter of the previous scheme in 2021 Q1. As with purchase price, the largest decrease in median incomes was seen in the North East and North West, decreasing by 21% and 20% respectively.

Figure 4. Median total applicant household income of purchasers using Help to Buy: Equity Loans, by English region (2019 Q1 to 2021 Q4)

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5. Purchaser deposits

In order to qualify for a Help to Buy: Equity Loan, the purchaser is required to have a minimum 5% deposit on the purchase price of the property.

As can be seen from Figure 5 below, the mean deposit percentage in all regions is lower for the new scheme than the previous scheme. This indicates that the scheme is being used by more users who do not have a substantial amounts of savings. As well as the mean deposit percentage decreasing, the absolute deposit amount has decreased too.

Figure 5. Mean deposit percentage of homes purchased using Help to Buy: Equity Loans, by English region (2019 Q1 to 2021 Q4)

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6. Property characteristics

Property characteristics including the property type and the number of bedrooms of properties sold under the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme are recorded for each completion in the scheme. The property type has been characterised into detached, semi-detached, terraced, bungalow and flat (including 79 studio apartments).

Following the introduction of the current Help to Buy (2021-23) scheme, there has been a lower proportion of detached and a higher proportion of semi-detached properties sold compared to the previous scheme. Under the current scheme, 14% of properties purchased were detached compared to 32% under the previous scheme and 42% of properties purchased were semi-detached compared to 32% under the previous scheme. There has also been a higher proportion of flats sold under the current Help to Buy scheme compared to the previous Help to Buy scheme with 29% of properties sold classed as flats in the current scheme compared to 18% in the previous scheme. Help to Buy continues to mainly support the purchase of houses with 81% of all transactions since 1 April 2013 either for detached, semi-detached, terraced or bungalow properties.

As can be seen from Figure 6 below, the proportion of homes purchased using Help to Buy by property type differs by region. The biggest change was in the North East with 33% less detached properties and 29% more semi-detached properties purchased under the current scheme compared to the previous scheme.

Figure 6. Proportion of homes purchased using Help to Buy: Equity Loans, by type of property and English region (February 2016^{[footnote 4]} to December 2021)

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There has been a lower proportion of 4 or more bedroom properties sold under the current Help to Buy scheme which is to be expected given there has been a lower proportion of detached properties. Under the current Help to Buy scheme, 8% of properties sold had 4 or more bedrooms compared to 28% under the previous scheme. The proportion of 2 bedroom properties purchased using Help to Buy increased to 32% under the current scheme compared to 22% under the previous scheme.

This again differs by region as can be seen from Figure 7 below. In all regions, the number of 4 or more bed properties decreased from the previous scheme to the current Help to Buy scheme. The proportion of 2 bedroom properties increased in all regions except for London.

Figure 7. Proportion of homes purchased using Help to Buy: Equity Loans, by number of bedrooms and English region (February 2016^{[footnote 4]} to December 2021)

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7. Accompanying tables

Accompanying tables are available to download alongside this release:

• Table 1. Number and value of Help to Buy: Equity Loans (quarterly), by local authority, England
• Table 1b. Number and value of Help to Buy: Equity Loans (quarterly) for first time buyers, by local authority, England
• Table 2. Number and value of Help to Buy: Equity Loans (monthly), England

The statistical release Tables 1 - 9b which appeared in previous versions of this release are also available to download from the link above.

In addition, legacy Help to Buy: NewBuy tables are also available at the link above.

These tables have not been updated. For more information please see the technical notes.

• Table 3. Cumulative number of Help to Buy: NewBuy completions (since March 2012) by local authority, England
• Table 10. Number of legal completions, Government liability (£m), and cost to Government (£m) under the Help to Buy: NewBuy Guarantee scheme, England

8. Technical notes

Please see the accompanying technical notes for further details.

9. Enquiries

Media enquiries: Office hours: 0303 444 1209

Email: NewsDesk@levellingup.gov.uk

Public enquiries and Responsible Statistician: Jade Berry

Email: housing.statistics@levellingup.gov.uk

Information on Official Statistics is available via the UK Statistics Authority website.

Information about statistics at DLUHC is available via the Department’s website.

1. In order to qualify for the Help to Buy: Equity Loan 2021-2023 scheme the purchaser(s) must be a first time Buyer(s) meaning purchaser(s) who have not previously acquired via purchase, gift, trust or inheritance a major interest in a dwelling or an equivalent interest in residential land situated anywhere in the world; and/or benefited from any form of Sharia mortgage finance. If the Eligible Dwelling is being bought by more than one individual then all purchasers must be first time buyers. ↩ ↩²

2. The Regional Full Purchase Price Caps are fixed for the duration of the Help to Buy: Equity Loan 2021-2023 scheme. ↩ ↩²

3. This uses the latest Household projections for local authorities. ↩

4. In February 2016, the maximum equity loan was increased to 40% for properties Greater London. ↩ ↩²