Help to Buy is the name of a government programme in the United Kingdom that aims to help first time buyers, and those looking to move home, purchase residential property.[1] It was announced in Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne's 2013 budget speech, and was described as "the biggest government intervention in the housing market since the Right to Buy scheme" of the 1980s.[2] It is an extension of a previous programme called FirstBuy that was aimed solely at first-time buyers.[3][4] Help to Buy has itself been expanded and extended.
According to a 2024 study, the programme led to an increase in housing prices without any impact on housing construction in severely supply constrained and unaffordable Greater London.[5]
- ^ Aldrick, Philip (29 September 2013). "Government launches Help-to-Buy three months early". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 6 October 2013.
- ^ Cowie, Ian (28 March 2013). "Budget 2013: winners and losers of Osborne's Help to Buy pledge". telegraph.co.uk. London. Archived from the original on March 30, 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
- ^ Jones, Rupert; King, Mark (26 March 2011). "First-time buyers face scramble for FirstBuy loans". theguardian.com. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
- ^ "Budget 2013: Chancellor extends home-buying schemes". BBC News. 20 March 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2014.
- ^ Carozzi, Felipe; Hilber, Christian A. L.; Yu, Xiaolun (2024). "On the economic impacts of mortgage credit expansion policies: Evidence from help to buy". Journal of Urban Economics. 139. doi:10.1016/j.jue.2023.103611. ISSN 0094-1190.