Friday 07 September 2018 8:41 am

Is there any justification for keeping Help to Buy?

David Campbell, group sales and marketing director at Telford Homes, says YES.

Help to Buy is a wonderful policy that has enabled around 246,000 people to get onto the property ladder – 81 per cent of whom were first-time buyers.

Many of these buyers would not have been able to purchase a home without the five per cent deposit that the scheme enables. Owning a property is a valuable asset that is likely to appreciate in value while also providing greater security, enhancing wellbeing and peace of mind.

Since the launch of Help to Buy, housing supply has increased by an incredible 74 per cent, and the scheme has also reduced the cost to the state of social housing. In addition, 150,000 jobs annually have been supported and sustained in the construction industry, which has also stimulated consumer spending in sectors such as DIY.

Help to Buy has achieved all the targets set for it in terms of increasing housing supply and home ownership, and has generated significant economic activity, all of which are vital to the UK’s economic future. It should absolutely be continued past 2021.

Ben Ramanauskas, a researcher at the Taxpayers’ Alliance, says NO.

The government should scrap Help to Buy, no question.

It was always a deeply unfair scheme: the main beneficiaries are wealthy homeowners who use it to buy a bigger house, and housebuilders which have seen their profits soar as a result. It cannot be right that the taxes paid by poor people are being used in this way.

The housing crisis in the UK is a problem of supply and demand. The restrictive planning system has prevented enough houses being built to meet demand, and rather than fixing anything, Help to Buy exacerbates the problem by increasing demand and so pushing up prices.

It also exposes the government to the mortgage market. Increased house prices through the injection of funding liquidity result in overstretched house price-income multiples. If things go wrong, it will be taxpayers who are left to sort out the mess.

Help to Buy is deeply unfair, it does nothing to solve the housing crisis, and it’s incredibly risky. There is no justification for clinging on to it.