Just 250 homes sold through government’s NewBuy scheme
JUST 250 houses have been sold through the government’s flagship scheme to help first-time buyers onto the property ladder, figures revealed yesterday.
The NewBuy programme offers mortgage guarantees to purchasers of new-build homes, even if they can only raise a five per cent deposit. Then-housing minister Grant Shapps had said that 100,000 households will be able to benefit from the scheme.
Jack Dromey, Labour’s shadow housing minister, said the figures show “the vast gap between the government’s rhetoric and the reality for those who want to realise their dreams of owning their own home”.
A government spokesman said: “Today’s statistics do not reflect the real progress of the NewBuy Guarantee since they only cover the first four months of the scheme’s operation.
As the Home Builders Federation have recently reported, 1,500 reservations have been made through NewBuy and at least 25,000 additional new homes will be built as a direct result.”