Help to Buy boosts Barratt sales by 47 per cent
Barratt Developments has praised the government's Help to Buy scheme for playing a large role in the rising activity in the housing market, reportinga rise in private forward sales of 46.7 per cent, or £1.1bn, for the period of July to November.
The company's interim management statement, released on Tuesday, said:
The Government's Help to Buy shared equity scheme continues to provide strong support to the market and has accelerated the recovery in consumer demand for new homes. Since the scheme's launch, over 2,800 of our reservations (excluding JVs) have utilised the Help to Buy shared equity product.
Since the launch of the government's controversial intervention in the housing market, over 2,800 reservations have used the Help to Buy shared equity scheme.
Barratt's strong performance follows Bovis Homes reporting an increase in like-for-like reservations of 45 per cent in the 44 weeks to 1 November. Bovis Homes also attributed a large part of the new exuberance in the housing market to the intervention, declaring, "higher loan to value mortgages and Government support in the form of the Help to Buy scheme [are] contributing to an already more confident housing market."
On Monday RBS and Halifax reported the second phase of Help to Buy had received an enthusiastic response, with 2,384 applications for £365m of mortgage loans received. First time buyers and house builders are certainly enjoying the new momentum in the housing market, but many continue to question whether the current house price boom will lead to another inevitable bust.
