Most Help to Buy House Buyers Are Under 30

A national study of estate agency figures has shown that the majority of people using the government’s Help to Buy scheme are doing so to get a foot on the housing ladder.

The study, conducted by Move with Us, found that 86% of estate agents questioned said that the scheme is definitely proving most popular with first time homebuyers, with second steppers coming in second.

In Greater London, where affordability of property is a severe problem, 93% of those taking up the scheme were in their 20s. Average house prices in the capital have risen by 18.94% in the past 12 months, meaning that people looking to buy houses in London at the moment will be looking at paying an average of £438,118. In the Northeast, where house price inflation figures stand at only 0.70% and average house prices are far below the national average, standing at £153 413,  85% of house buyers are aged 20-29.

When taken into account the figures relating to all home buyers and not just those using Help to Buy house buyers under 30 are shown to make up only 16% of purchaser. The majority of people purchasing property overall are in their thirties, with this demographic accounting for 52% of purchases.

The study also showed that 78% of people using the Help to Buy scheme to buy houses are young couples, 10.5% are single and 9% are families. Additionally, in the last 6 months, 7% have used it to upsize, while  3% have implemented the government incentive to downsize their property.

While it is clearly allowing people who aspire to own their own property to realise their aspirations, the government’s Help to Buy scheme has been the subject of widespread criticism recently, with many commentators blaming the scheme for creating a housing bubble by artificially inflating prices, particularly in areas where demand for housing was already high before the scheme was introduced, such as in London and the South East.