Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to support first-time buyers in Central London who cannot receive help through the Help to Buy ISA scheme due to high average house prices regularly exceeding £450,000.

The Help to Buy: ISA scheme aims to help those that are struggling to save enough to get onto the housing ladder. The property price cap of £250,000 for those properties outside London or £450,000 within London, therefore allows the Government to target support at the people the scheme is intended to help. First-time buyers tend to buy smaller, therefore cheaper; first properties and the Government’s aim is to provide the opportunity for first-time buyers to enter the market. Since the scheme launched in 2015, 410,075 property completions have been supported through the scheme with a mean property value of £175,010 compared to an average first-time buyer house price of £214,452.

The Government has introduced a number of measures to support homeownership, including the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme, mortgage guarantee scheme, Shared Ownership schemes, and the First Home scheme.

Each scheme has its own eligibility criteria and more information on each scheme can be found on the Own Your Home (HM Government) website: https://www.ownyourhome.gov.uk/