Help to Buy really does speed up buying your own home, says Barratt Homes

New research from local housebuilder Barratt Homes North East shows that the government’s Help to Buy scheme can knock more than three years off the time it takes to get on the property ladder.

Barratt surveyed around 1,600 of its customers who had used Help to Buy to get their views on the scheme.

Nearly half of the respondents said it would have taken them three or more years to buy a house if they hadn’t used Help to Buy, whilst over a quarter said that without using the scheme it would have taken them more than five years to get their home. Two thirds of people said they would not have been able to buy their home without Help to Buy, whilst at least a third said it was the only way they could ever make it onto the housing ladder.

These findings underline just how successful Help to Buy is in helping people to buy their own home, particularly first time buyers.

Nationally more than 80% of the 195,000 families who have used Help to Buy are first time buyers, and without the scheme many thousands of families would now not own their home – they would either still be trying to save or many may have given up completely.

The new research from Barratt shows that Help to Buy is also really popular with their customers. Nearly 90% of users said they were either satisfied or very satisfied with Help to Buy, whilst 72% have recommended the scheme to friends and other people.

Help to Buy is not only getting more people on to the housing ladder, it is also supporting more homes being built, creating jobs and driving economic growth in communities across the country. Since it was introduced back in April 2013 the supply of new homes has increased by nearly 80% and is now at levels not seen since the 1960s.

Carl Sobolewski, managing director of Barratt Developments North East, commented on the research, saying: “This new research makes it clear just how beneficial Help to Buy is. It enables people to buy their home much more quickly – often eliminating more than three years of saving for a deposit. Also, many people simply wouldn’t be able to buy their home any other way.

“Help to Buy is a really popular product, it’s available at most developments and people can just visit our show homes to find out how it may help them.”