PPA will advise you with Help to Buy

Expert View by IAN LEE - former chairman of Portsmouth Property Association (PPA) and director ofMcAndrew Martin chartered surveyors

McAndrew Martin director Ian Lee of Portsmouth based chartered surveyors McAndrew Martin

Q - Why have I heard a lot about ‘Help to Buy’ recently?

A - Help to Buy has been the government’s flagship scheme to help more people – especially first-time buyers – own their own home.It has always enjoyed a fairly high profile since its launch in 2012.Now the government has released figures showing that the initiative has helped more than one million people over the past five years.That breaks down into some 285,000 homeowners who have used one or more of the different Help to Buy schemes – and 960,000 people who have opened a Help to Buy ISA.To the casual observer it can be confusing with various different elements in the scheme.They include the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme, which offers buyers up to 20 per cent of a newly-built home’s costs so they only need to provide a five per cent deposit.Its Shared Ownership programme allows buyers to purchase as little as 25 per cent or as much as 75 per cent of a home and pay rent on the rest.The Help to Buy ISAs feature a government bonus on savings for first-time buyers.This will be replaced in November 2019 by Lifetime ISAs, which will be aimed at people saving for retirement as well as first-time buyers.Nationally, according to the recent government figures, the average house price across the Help to Buy schemes is £193,826 while the average UK house price is £220,000.We’ve found that the majority of Help to Buy surveys for our clients have been for relatively new and modern properties in the £200,000 to £250,000 price bracket.Of course there’s plenty of small print to consider and the scheme does have its critics but it can help many people on to the housing ladder.Visit the Help to Buy website helptobuy.gov.uk to see if the scheme is suitable for you or speak to a member of the Portsmouth Property Association (PPA).Members of the PPA will be able to advise about the various options but also have local knowledge and contacts which make them best placed to offer the best help.Visit the PPA website at http://portsmouthproperty.co.uk/ for more information.