The success of David Cameron’s Conservative Party in the general election means that we can expect Help to Buy schemes to be carried out as promised, chief amongst them the Help to Buy ISA scheme.
If this promise is carried out, it will allow first-time buyers to receive money from the government to put towards their deposit, as they save money into an ISA.
The Help to Buy ISA is targeted at first-time buyers, with the intention to help them get onto the property ladder by making deposits more achievable, because although many people are able to afford mortgage repayments, they are unable to raise a deposit in the first place.
Those on the scheme are able to save up to £200 into an ISA every month, and for every £200 saved, the government stated it would contribute £50. This means that first-time buyers who save the maximum amount, £12,000, will have received £3,000 in total from the government, leaving them with a final sum of £15,000 to use as a deposit.
The Help to Buy ISA was announced in George Osborne’s Budget in March, and as the Tories have successfully obtained the majority of seats in parliament, they are free to follow through with the scheme.
Alternatively, there is also a Help to Buy mortgage guarantee, which will remain in place until 2017. It increases the chances of buyers being able to secure a mortgage with a deposit of just 5 per cent.
The Liberal Democrats losing out will mean that their proposed scheme to help renters scrape together a deposit, through the use of low-cost loans, will not become available. The Help to Rent scheme was set to help people under 30 years old, who were caught in the renting trap.