Help to Buy (equity loan scheme): data to 31 March 2021
Published 13 August 2021
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2021
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/help-to-buy-equity-loan-scheme-data-to-31-march-2021/help-to-buy-equity-loan-scheme-data-to-31-march-2021
Date of next publication: It is expected that the June 2021 Help to Buy: Equity Loan statistics will be published in November 2021. The date will be pre-announced on the GOV.UK publication release calendar.
1. Key statistics
Between 1 January and 31 March 2021 15,341 properties were bought with an equity loan, an increase of 61% from the same period in 2020.
From 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2021, 328,506 properties were bought with an equity loan.
The total value of these equity loans so far totals £20.1 billion.
The value of the properties sold under the scheme totals £91.1 billion.
82% of all completions are by first time buyers.
Help to Buy: Equity Loan completions will be affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the government measures taken to reduce transmission of the virus.
In England, Help to Buy: Equity Loan completions between April and June, the periods when the restrictions of movement were most in effect, were down by 61% against the respective months in 2019. In the three months to March 2021, completions were up by 61% compared to the same quarter in 2020 and up by 48% when compared to 2019.
2. Value of equity loans and properties
2.1 Overall figures from 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2021
Statistics for Help to Buy: Equity Loan are based on legal completion dates for transactions under the scheme as operated in England and cover the period from the launch of the scheme on 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2021. Monthly and quarterly figures are also provided and can be found in the accompanying tables.
Between April 2013 and 31 March 2021, 328,506 properties were sold through Help to Buy: Equity Loan, using a total value of equity loans of £20.1 billion. These equity loans supported the purchase of £91.1 billion worth of property.
Between April 2013 and 31 March 2021, first time buyers accounted for 82% of total home purchases. 270,104 properties were bought by first time buyers through Help to Buy: Equity Loan using a total value of equity loans of £16.4 billion. The overall value of properties sold to first time buyers total £72.5 billion.
2.2 Quarterly figures for Q1 2021
In Q1 2021 (01 January to 31 March 2021) there were 15,341 properties sold through Help to Buy: Equity Loan, using a total value of equity loans of £1,158 million. These equity loans supported the purchase of £5,051 million worth of property.
Of these 15,341 properties, 12,472 (81%) were bought by first time buyers, using a total value of equity loans of £941 million to purchase property worth a total of £3,985 million.
The total number of completions in Q1 2021 were down by 27% compared to the previous quarter, while they were up by 61% compared to Q1 2020.
Every region of England followed a similar pattern of completions during 2020, with completions in Q1 and Q2 being significantly below those of 2019.
Completions in Q3 2020 were, on average, up 12% compared to 2019 (ranging from a 0% change in London to a 22% increase in the North East).
In Q4 2020, all regions saw a large increase (average of 40%) in completions against 2019, with the North East and London seeing the largest increases of 53% and 52% respectively.
Completions in Q1 2021 were lower than completions in Q4 2020, but this is to be expected due to the seasonal variations in the new-build market. Completions in Q1 2021 were on average 61% higher than in Q1 2020, ranging from a 30% increase in the North West to a 104% increase in the North East.
The percentages on the graph below show the changes in completions from Q1 2020 to Q1 2021.
Total number of home purchases completed under the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme, Quarterly from Q1 2018 to Q1 2021, by English Region
The quarterly breakdown of total completions, equity loan value and purchase value are available in the accompanying tables.
2.3 Annual figures
For England, home purchases completed under the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme totalled 55,649 in the year to 31 March 2021, up by 8% compared with the year to 31 March 2020 (51,375 completions). First time buyers bought 45,965 properties under the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme in the year to 31 March 2021, up by 9% compared with the year to 31 March 2020 (42,248 completions)
The table and graph below presents figures the year ending 31 March 2014 to the year ending 31 March 2021. Monthly breakdowns are available in the [accompanying tables]https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/help-to-buy-equity-loan-scheme-data-to-31-march-2021).
Total number of home purchases, value of equity loans and total purchase price of properties completed under the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme, for the year ending 31 March 2014 to the year ending 31 March 2021
| Date | Completions | Total Value of Equity Loans (£m) | Total Value of Properties (£m) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year to 31 March 2014 | 19,604 | 801 | 4,022 |
| Year to 31 March 2015 | 27,728 | 1,207 | 6,065 |
| Year to 31 March 2016 | 33,730 | 1,585 | 7,979 |
| Year to 31 March 2017 | 39,806 | 2,269 | 10,464 |
| Year to 31 March 2018 | 48,176 | 3,067 | 13,678 |
| Year to 31 March 2019 | 52,438 | 3,530 | 15,427 |
| Year to 31 March 2020 | 51,375 | 3,591 | 15,645 |
| Year to 31 March 2021 | 55,649 | 4,059 | 17,803 |
| Total | 328,506 | 20,110 | 91,083 |
Total number of home purchases completed under the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme, for the year ending 31 March 2014 to the year ending 31 March 2021, including figures for first time buyers and purchases completed in London
The graph above shows that the number of properties bought annually using the Help to Buy: Equity Loan gradually increased from the year ending March 2014 to the year ending March 2021.There was a slight decrease in the year to 31 March 2020 which may be due to the large reduction in sales in March 2020, where monthly sales were down by 17% compared to March 2019.
Monthly data is available in Table 3 accompanying this release.
2.4 Help to Buy in London
Since the launch of the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme on 1 April 2013 to 31 March 2021, 31,272 properties were bought with an equity loan in London.
In the year to 31 March 2021, 6,804 home purchases were completed under the Help to Buy: Equity Loan in London, up by 10% on the year to 31 March 2020 (6,169 completions). In London, first time buyers bought 6,541 properties under the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme in the year to 31 March 2021, up by 11% on the year to 31 March 2020 (5,881 completions).
In London, the maximum equity loan was increased from 20% to 40% in February 2016, since then to 31 March 2021 there were 27,041 completions in London. Of these, 24,135 were made with an equity loan higher than 20% and 21,352 were made with an equity loan of exactly 40% of the purchase price, showing that most home purchases completed in London under the scheme used the full 40% equity loan available to them.
3. Property purchase price
The Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme can be used to purchase a new build property up to the value of £600,000, with a maximum equity loan of £120,000 (20%). In Greater London, the maximum equity loan is £240,000 (40%). Since April 2013, the mean purchase price of properties bought with a Help to Buy Equity Loan was £277,264, with a mean loan of £61,217.
The table below shows the number of homes purchased under Help to Buy: Equity Loan to 31 March 2021 by purchase price. 31% of Help to Buy: Equity Loan completions were for homes worth £200,000 or less. About 46% of properties acquired through the scheme had a purchase price ranging between £200,001- £350,000 and 23% had a purchase price greater than £350,000. Overall, 50% of the homes purchased to 31 March 2021 had a price of £250,000 or less.
The price of properties acquired by first time buyers through Help to Buy: Equity Loan follows a similar pattern, with 54% of properties having a value at the point of sale of £250,000 or less.
Cumulative number of legal completions to 31 March 2021, by purchase price, England.
| Purchase Price | Completions (First Time Buyers) | Percentage (First Time Buyers) | Completions (Total) | Percentage (Total) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £0 - 125,000 | 12,863 | 5% | 13,427 | 4% |
| £125,000 - 150,000 | 20,299 | 8% | 21,617 | 7% |
| £150,000 - 200,000 | 59,172 | 22% | 65,787 | 20% |
| £200,000 - 250,000 | 52,807 | 20% | 62,671 | 19% |
| £250,000 - 350,000 | 69,234 | 26% | 89,542 | 27% |
| £350,000 - 500,000 | 41,797 | 15% | 57,482 | 17% |
| £500,000 - 600,000 | 13,932 | 5% | 17,980 | 5% |
| Total | 270,104 | 100% | 328,506 | 100% |
The graph below shows the change in median purchase price for first time buyers and non first time buyers for purchases made with a Help to Buy: Equity Loan. All of this data can be found in Table 4, 4a and 4b accompanying this release.
The graph shows that all purchase prices have been steadily getting higher since the start of the scheme in 2013, the purchase prices of properties bought by non first time buyers has continually been above that of first time buyers.
Average purchase price of property sold under the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme, by calendar year, England.
More information on the purchase price of properties bought with the help of a Help to Buy: Equity Loan is available in Tables 4, 4a and 4b accompanying this release
4. Type of property
The table below shows the number of properties sold under Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme by property type. Help to Buy has mainly supported the purchase of houses. Up to 31 March 2021, 18% of all transactions were for flats and 82% were for houses, split among detached, semi-detached and terraced houses, and two bungalows. Proportionally, first time buyers purchased more flats, terraced and semi-detached properties, but fewer detached houses than existing owners.
Cumulative number of legal completions to 31 March 2021, by property type, England.
| Property Type | Completions (First Time Buyers) | Percentage (First Time Buyers) | Completions (Total) | Percentage (Total) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Detached | 70,318 | 26% | 104,237 | 32% |
| Semi-detached | 91,013 | 34% | 105,634 | 32% |
| Terraced | 51,716 | 19% | 58,961 | 18% |
| Flat | 57,029 | 21% | 59,641 | 18% |
| Bungalow | 3 | 0% | 5 | 0% |
| Unrecorded | 25 | 0% | 28 | 0% |
| Total | 270,104 | 100% | 328,506 | 100% |
5. Purchaser deposits
More than a half (54%) of all home purchases were made with a deposit up to 5% of the property purchase price at the point of sale and 23% with a deposit ranging between 5% and 10%. The remaining 23% were made by purchasers who paid a deposit of 10% of the property value or more.
A greater proportion of first time buyers (58%) put down a deposit of 5% or less of the property purchase price, compared with existing home-owners (36%). There was also a difference between the proportion of first time buyers (10%) and non first time buyers (29%) that used a deposit of more than 15%.
6. Applicant household incomes
The household income of purchasers of properties under the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme is recorded for each completion in the scheme. ‘Total applicant household income’ reported below refers to the total income for the household, regardless of how many members of that household are making the purchase.
Cumulative number of legal completions, to 31 March 2021, by total applicant household income, England.
| Total Applicant Household Income | Completions (First Time Buyers) | Percentage (First Time Buyers) | Completions (Total) | Percentage (Total) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £0 - 20,000 | 4,130 | 2% | 4,540 | 1% |
| £20,000 - 30,000 | 29,545 | 11% | 32,542 | 10% |
| £30,000 - 40,000 | 52,702 | 20% | 60,006 | 18% |
| £40,000 - 50,000 | 58,512 | 22% | 69,805 | 21% |
| £50,000 - 60,000 | 44,742 | 17% | 56,214 | 17% |
| £60,000 - 80,000 | 47,660 | 18% | 62,986 | 19% |
| £80,000 - 100,000 | 19,142 | 7% | 25,357 | 8% |
| More than £100,000 | 13,671 | 5% | 17,056 | 5% |
| Total | 270,104 | 100% | 328,506 | 100% |
To 31 March 2021, 49% of the Help to Buy: Equity Loan borrowers had household incomes between £20,000 and £50,000. Only 1% and 5% of applicants had household incomes below £20,000 and above £100,000 respectively. The majority of first time buyers (52%) using Help to Buy: Equity Loan to purchase a property had household incomes ranging between £20,000 and £50,000.
The graph below shows a similar pattern to the graph above regarding purchase price of properties. The median total applicant household income (the combined income of applicants using a Help to Buy: Equity Loan) has gradually increased since 2013 with first time buyers typically having a lower household income compared to non first time buyers.
Median total applicant household income under the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme, by calendar year, England
The data for this graph can be found in Table 8 accompanying this release.
7. Accompanying tables
Accompanying tables are available to download alongside this release:
- Table 1: Number and value of Help to Buy: Equity Loans (quarterly), by local authority, England
- Table 1b: Number and value of Help to Buy: Equity Loans (quarterly) for first time buyers, by local authority, England
- Table 2: Number and value of Help to Buy: Equity Loans (monthly), England
The statistical release Tables 1-9b are also available to download from the link above.
In addition, legacy Help to Buy: NewBuy tables are also available at the link above. These tables have not been updated. For more information please see the Help to Buy: NewBuy text in the definitions and user engagement sections.
- Table 3: Cumulative number of Help to Buy: NewBuy completions (since March 2012) by local authority, England
- Table 10: Number of legal completions, Government liability (£m), and cost to Government (£m) under the Help to Buy: NewBuy Guarantee scheme, England
8. Technical notes
Please see the accompanying technical notes document for further details.
9. Enquiries
Media enquiries - Office hours: 0303 444 1209
Email: NewsDesk@communities.gov.uk
Public enquiries and Responsible Statistician: Niall McSharry
Email: housing.statistics@communities.gov.uk
Information on Official Statistics is available via the UK Statistics Authority website
Information about statistics at MHCLG is available via the Department’s website.