The Scottish Help to Buy scheme for first-time buyers and existing home owners is being extended for two years to 2021 with a further £100m investment, helping more people purchase a new-build home without raising a large deposit
From April 2019, a further £100m million will be available for a two-year period helping up to 4,000 households to purchase a new home.
Since 2013, the scheme has supported more than 12,000 households into a new home.
The threshold price for the scheme is £200,000 for purchases on or before 31 March 2019, as it was in 2018. The cap for the new tranche of funding have not been released.
Help to Buy (Scotland) is open to first time buyers and existing homeowners, and provides up to 15% of the purchase price of a new build home. The maximum purchase price is £200,000.
The schemes are available to help first-time buyers and existing homeowners to buy a new build home up to a maximum threshold price.
Existing homeowners must sell their home prior to buying a home with assistance from the scheme.
Only those who need shared equity support to purchase a home are eligible. Most applicants must take out at least a 25% mortgage. However, applicants aged 60 and over who demonstrate a housing need to move can apply without taking out a mortgage.
A single person will not be eligible if he or she requires a mortgage of more than 4.5 times their income; couples will not be eligible if they require a mortgage of more than 3.5 times their joint income.
Around two thirds (66%) of Help to Buy (Scotland) households were first-time buyers, while around a third (34%) were existing home owners.
Around half (50%) of buyers were aged 30 years or under, with over three-quarters (76%) of buyers aged 35 or under.
Housing minister Kevin Stewart said: ’A third of the annual £50m budget – £18m – will be reserved for sales from small to medium-sized (SME) builders, who were particularly affected by the drop in development finance after the financial crisis.
'We know house builders still see Scotland as a place to continue to develop and invest, with the latest figures showing new house completions grew by 5% over the last year.
‘Housing is about more than bricks and mortar – we want to provide safe, warm homes, help create a fairer Scotland, and preserve a diverse and more resilient construction sector.’
Help to Buy (Scotland) was launched on 30 September 2013. It cost the government £313m during the first three years (2013/14 – 2015/16) of the scheme with a further £195m committed from 2016/17 - 2018/19.
Help to Buy (Scotland): guidance for lenders and independent financial advisers
Report by Sara White