Help to Buy Extended to 2022
Yesterday the Scottish Government pledged £55 million to help property buyers get onto the market. The scheme has been extended by a year to March 2022.
The Government announced that more than 2,000 extra households would benefit from the scheme whereby buyers can access up to 15% of the cost of buying a new-build home with a purchase price of up to £200,000.
The Government share is repaid once the property is sold or when the share is bought out by the property purchaser.
The annual funding has been increased by £5 million to £55 million to finance the additional year, of which £15 million is ringfenced for homes bought from smaller developments.
Housing Minister Kevin Steward stated “A strong and growing house-building industry is vital to Scotland’s future economic prosperity – and particularly as we plan our strategic economic recovery from Covid-19. This extension will provide us with the opportunity to reassess future priorities for the market, taking account of economic conditions following the pandemic, as well as providing a helping hand to those seeking to buy their own home.
“Since 2013, the Help to Buy (Scotland) scheme has supported people with the purchase of over 17,000 new build homes and in particular supported young people aged 35 and under. Extending this scheme will help more people to buy a new-build property, particularly those who have suffered lower levels of income and have used up savings due to the impact of Covid-19 in recent months.”
Here at Urban Union Ltd. this is welcome news and we believe it will improve confidence in the market allowing young people to realise their dream of owning their own home when they may have otherwise missed out. At Urban Union we regenerate communities and build affordable, high quality homes for people at all life stages – from first time buyers through to downsizers.
What is Help to Buy (Scotland)?
Help to Buy (Scotland) is a shared equity scheme aimed at helping both first-time buyers and home movers buy a new build home.
Help to Buy (Scotland) is made of up two schemes. The Affordable New Build Scheme available to larger homebuilders and the Smaller Developers New Build Scheme for smaller home builders and is available through these participating builders.
The rules covering the two schemes the same and include:
- A deposit of at least 5% is required.
- Your combined deposit and mortgage must cover 85% of the purchase price.
- The Scottish Government will contribute the remaining 15% of the purchase price holding security over this proportion till you own your home outright.
- The mortgage must be a repayment mortgage of at least 25%. This cannot be an interest-only first mortgage.
Talk to us about our developments and available properties or find out more here.