GENERATION RENT TO BECOME GENERATION BUY
Most of us at some point had (or have) ambitions of owning are own home. It’s common knowledge that today first time buyers are finding it increasingly difficult to get onto the property ladder. This is arguably caused by several reasons, but most significantly due to the increasing gap between the average salary compared to the average house price. According to ‘ ThisIsMoney.co.uk’ over the space of a decade the average house price went up by £100,000 whereas the average salary only went up by £6,400. Taking into consideration that lenders will calculate your borrowing by around 4.5 x annual salary, this leaves a borrowing short fall of £71,200. With this in mind, Boris Johnson’s announcement last month has caused a combination of excitement and speculation around what help first time buyers are to expect in the future. Boris stated he wants to turn generation rent into generation buy. He has given us little more than this slogan to go on however, what we do know is that the existing ‘Help to Buy’ (HTB) scheme is due to come to an end. 18
There are some significant changes between now and March 2021 to bare in mind if you or someone you know is looking to utilise the scheme before it ends.
From March 2021 the HTB Scheme will only be available to first time buyers, this means those interested in HTB and are not first-time buyers will need to have their ‘Property Information Form’ submitted by the 15th December 2020. A new scheme will be available from April 2021 Those looking to use the new scheme must complete a new HTB application form to be eligible for the new HTB scheme the purchase price must be under £349,000 (for the South West of England). Sian Turrell Managing Director, Mortgage Mind
