A government review has concluded that George Osborne’s Help-to-Buy scheme, designed to reduce costs for first-time buyers, represented “very high value for money”. An official audit calculated that the programme provided £25bn of social value to the UK in the last financial year.
The findings may support senior government figures who have advocated for a new version of the scheme. Housing minister Matthew Pennycook and former housing secretary Steve Reed reportedly pushed for Labour to create its own scheme to boost home ownership, but were overridden by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who prioritised increasing housing supply.
The report stated that the Help-to-Buy scheme supported expanded home ownership, particularly in affordable areas, and helped some individuals buy sooner or when they might not otherwise have been able to. It also enabled others to purchase larger or more expensive homes.
More than 387,000 people bought their own home through the scheme, including over 328,000 first-time buyers. Nearly half of customers indicated they could not have bought a home without the scheme.
A government spokesperson confirmed there are no current plans for a new Help-to-Buy scheme. However, they noted the importance of evaluating past programmes to learn from their successes and shortcomings.