Home Builders Federation (HBF) report back the government equity loan scheme, which it says has supported 150,000 jobs.
The HBF has published a report defending the Help-to-Buy equity loan scheme, which the government is currently reviewing. The report provides statistics that it says proves the scheme has met the targets to increase home ownership, increase housing supply, and generate economic activity.
The HBF says that since its launch, housing supply has increased by 74 per cent, which it claims is the fastest increase on record, to supply levels last seen in the 1950s. Planning permissions are also up 88 per cent over the same period.
The report also claims that the 48,000 homes sold through Help to Buy last year helped sustain an estimated 150,000 jobs. It also argues that the scheme has been accessible to building firms of all sizes, with 3,000 building companies, the majority of them small local builders, now registered.
Stewart Baseley, executive chairman of the HBF said: “It is quite clear that the Help to Buy scheme has been an unmitigated success and has delivered handsomely on all its objectives.
“It has enabled hundreds of thousands of people to realise their dream of owning a home, the vast majority of whom are first time buyers on average incomes. It has led to an unprecedented increase in house building activity, created tens of thousands of jobs and boosted local economies the length and breadth of the country”.
