In amongst the headlines of last months budget was a revision to the current Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme, which is due to expire in March 2021.
At present the scheme is available to all house buyers, who wish to purchase a brand new property from a developer whose properties qualify, allowing the buyer to achieve an equity loan of up to 20% of the purchase price.
Whilst aimed predominantly at the first time buyer market, 18% of all loans have gone to non-first time buyers, allowing those even with significant earnings to take advantage of the scheme.
With effect from April 2021, the scheme will be restricted to purely first time buyers and have regional caps on the value of the property you are able to buy. This cap is determined by the average forecast first time buyer property price x 1.5. So for example in the North East the maximum purchase price will be £186,100, whereas in the South East it will be £437,600.
The budget also stated that the Government has no plans to extend the scheme beyond 2023 at present.
Therefore if you are considering using the scheme and saving in a Help to Buy ISA to maximise the benefits on offer, then you should be aware of the above changes and plan accordingly.
If you require any impartial advice or guidance on the Help to Buy scheme or buying a property in general, please do get in touch, we would be delighted to help.