Help to Buy house prices have overheated by £63k

Help to Buy house prices have overheated by £63k & could leave FTBs in Government induced negative equity!

The latest research by for sale by owner website, www.OkayLah.com, has revealed how the Government’s Help to Buy scheme has hugely overheated and while the big house builders that have taken advantage of the scheme have made huge profits, a collapse could leave hundreds of thousands of homeowners in negative equity.

OkayLah.com looked at the number of Help to Buy completions each quarter since Q2 of 2013 and the total sold value of those Help to Buy properties to ascertain the price of the average Help to Buy property in each quarter. They then compared this to the average first-time buyer house price from the Land Registry to see how prices differed for those using the scheme.

In Q2 of 2013 when Help to Buy was introduced, the average first time buyer house price was £197,000, with the price paid per a Help to Buy property just £186,091, making them over £10,000 better off as a result of using the scheme.

But by Q3, this had fallen to just over £6,000 better off, with a complete turnaround coming by Q4 with the average Help to Buy house price exceeding that of the average first-time buyer by £7,714.

Fast forward to 2018 and a sector suffering from a lack of supply but bolstered by this huge spike in demand as a result of the Government’s ‘helping hand’ is now vastly out of kilter with the rest of the market.

Today the average first-time buyer house price is £236,000, however, those buying through the Help to Buy scheme are forking out a staggering £298,927 – a different of £62,927.

This deficit has been increasing each quarter and the now leaves many in danger of negative equity should the housing bubble burst and prices plummet.

Founder and CEO of www.OkayLah.com, Paul Telford, commented:

“It’s quite astonishing how out of shape the Help to Buy scheme now looks against the backdrop of the rest of first-time buyer market across the nation. While it was implemented with the best intentions and initially did serve as intended, the consequences of further fuelling demand in an area of the housing market that was already in desperate need of additional stock is plain to see.

What’s perhaps more alarming is that as much as half of the £1bn or so made by the nation’s biggest house builders has come from the Government subsidised scheme and essentially straight out of the pocket of taxpayers.

Not only has this pushed Help to Buy prices up massively, but it leaves those buying through the scheme on vary precarious ground. While we are unlikely to see a market crash despite the slowdown caused by Brexit uncertainty, a notable softening of property values would leave many in negative equity when considering their Help to Buy property within the wider landscape of the first-time buyer market climate.”

Quarter
Completions
Value of Equity Loans (£m) at completion1
Total value of properties sold (£m)2
Avg price paid per H2B property
Avg UK FTB House Price*
Help to Buy ‘Premium’ (£)
Help to Buy ‘Premium’ (%)
2013
14,023
566.15
2,840.37
Q2
2,103
78.09
391.35
£186,091
£197,000
(£10,909)
-6%
Q3
3,944
156.24
784.31
£198,862
£205,000
(£6,138)
-3%
Q4
7,976
331.82
1,664.70
£208,714
£201,000
£7,714
4%
2014
28,376
1,226.04
6,160.42
 
Q1
5,581
235.21
1,181.89
£211,770
£205,000
£6,770
3%
Q2
8,775
380.81
1,913.72
£218,088
£210,000
£8,088
4%
Q3
5,846
252.67
1,269.99
£217,241
£218,000
(£759)
0%
Q4
8,174
357.36
1,794.82
£219,577
£209,000
£10,577
5%
2015
31,827
1,469.26
7,399.13
 
Q1
4,929
215.84
1,085.28
£220,183
£212,000
£8,183
4%
Q2
9,355
429.76
2,163.86
£231,305
£212,000
£19,305
9%
Q3
6,898
319.26
1,608.46
£233,178
£219,000
£14,178
6%
Q4
10,645
504.4
2,541.54
£238,754
£217,000
£21,754
10%
2016
38,383
2,094.12
9,889.73
 
Q1
6,788
329.15
1,652.41
£243,431
£223,000
£20,431
9%
Q2
10,814
583.66
2,787.65
£257,782
£220,000
£37,782
17%
Q3
8,542
474.03
2,210.02
£258,724
£226,000
£32,724
14%
Q4
12,239
707.29
3,239.65
£264,699
£225,000
£39,699
18%
2017
46,300
2,911.44
12,995.36
 
Q1
8,212
504.31
2,226.81
£271,165
£221,000
£50,165
23%
Q2
13,863
870.61
3,884.48
£280,205
£228,000
£52,205
23%
Q3
10,233
659.66
2,921.47
£285,495
£229,000
£56,495
25%
Q4
13,992
876.86
3,962.60
£283,205
£225,000
£58,205
26%
2018
36,310
2,397.73
10,601.71
 
Q1
10,170
665.81
2,934.05
£288,500
£227,000
£61,500
27%
Q2
14,950
967.06
4,322.67
£289,142
£232,000
£57,142
25%
Q3
11,190
764.85
3,344.99
£298,927
£236,000
£62,927
27%

 

Properganda PR

National and local media coverage for property businesses. Journo quotes delivered in minutes.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

Don’t Put The Property Market On Pause

What Estate Agents actually want from the Budget Estate Agents are looking to the looming Budget for something that has been in short supply across the property market in recent years – certainty. That was one of the clearest messages to come out of iamproperty’s recent roundtable attended by agents from across the UK. The…
Read More →
Breaking News

Before You Sign: 10 Things Home Movers Wish They Knew

Almost three quarters of home movers wish they knew more before making or accepting an offer as property professionals call for reform Almost three quarters (73%) of people who have recently bought or sold a home wish they had known more about the property or its location before making or accepting an offer, according to…
Read More →
Breaking News

Property expert warns homeowners to lock in amid mortgage rates uncertainty

With mortgage rates fluctuating and threatening to rise, homeowners hoping for cheaper borrowing in 2027 are being warned against delaying their mortgage plans if they’re anticipating lower rates According to Moneyfacts, the average five-year fixed mortgage rate has now reached 6% in October, the highest level in around three years, while the average two-year fixed…
Read More →
mycelium growth
Breaking News

Damp and mould online searches rise by 34%

The latest research from Inventory Base shows that search interest in damp and mould has increased by 34.2% in the latest two-month comparison, while searches for damp have risen by 29.1% and mould by 16.8%. The analysis of Google search interest trends* found that searches for “damp and mould” rose from an average search interest…
Read More →
Rightmove logo
Breaking News

Nearly two-thirds of movers want homes that generate their own energy

Neary two-thirds of movers (63%) want their home to generate most or all of its own energy More than half, 53%, say recent energy-price rises have increased their interest in solar panels and home battery storage Just 8% would prefer to remain fully reliant on the grid Since 2022, mentions of heat pumps in newly…
Read More →
Breaking News

Renters’ Rights Act: A review of the first six months

Ahead of the Renters’ Rights Act (RRA) coming into force on May 1st, there were many concerns across the industry. Landlords were probably most worried about the removal of section 21 and fixed-term tenancies, fearing it would be harder and take longer to remove troublesome tenants and regain possession of their properties. Widespread predictions were…
Read More →