Last updated on June 29th, 2017 at 10:36 am

Part one of Help to Buy offers equity loans which allow people to buy a newly built home with a deposit of at least 5% of the purchase price.  The government then loans up to 20% and the rest is covered by a mortgage.  The average cost of a house bought under this part of the scheme is £203,137.  According to government statistics, in the 11 months to 28 February 2014, 66 people bought homes using ‘Equity Loan’ in Sheffield: 126 in Barnsley, 87 in Doncaster and 119 in Rotherham.

Part 2 of the scheme, ‘Mortgage Guarantee’, is available to those buying a home up to the value of £600,000.  The purchaser puts down a mortgage of at least 5% and the mortgage company buys a guarantee from the government for the rest of the 20% deposit.  The buyer is still responsible for repaying the full purchase price.  This part of the Help to Buy scheme, which is available for new-build or existing homes, but which has not been extended past the 31 December 2016 finish date, also appears to have been a success with the government announcing that completions tripled in one month from 750 to over 2,500.

This comes on the back of other good news for the property market, with the Council for Mortgage Lenders (CML) announcing that February’s mortgage lending was the highest for a February since 2008 at £15.2 billion – 43% higher than February 2013.  The Halifax added to the good news for homeowners with its statistics showing that house prices rose by 7.7% in the UK in 2013.

If you are buying, selling or remortgaging property and are looking for a high quality, value for money service – look no further than Graysons WE’s highly experienced conveyancing team.  Led by solicitor, Caroline Murray, the team has experience of dealing with purchases using the Help to Buy scheme.