First-time buyers head the queue as interest in Help to Buy continues to soar

As details start to emerge around the mortgage deals lenders will actually offer to home movers under the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme, Rightmove can reveal that interest continues to soar.

Traffic to Rightmove’s Help to Buy section increased 184% last week compared to the week before as home movers seek out clarity on a scheme that covers more than 91% of all properties advertised on Rightmove, the UK’s largest and busiest property website.

Help to Buy in numbers so far:

184% increase in traffic to Rightmove’s Help to Buy section last week – more than 270,000 views in the first full week since the Prime Minister’s initial announcement on September, 28^th

Monday, 7^th October the busiest day – more than 80,000 views of the Help to Buy section, more than five times the average daily traffic in September as interest continues to build

75% of those who have registered to receive more Help to Buy information are first-time buyers

25% of registrations are existing homeowners, indicating interest among those up-sizing too

Nearly half of all registrations are from potential home movers in London and the South East – the two most expensive regions in the country

91% of properties on Rightmove are currently advertised at or below the £600k upper price limit of the scheme

On increased interest in the scheme, Miles Shipside, director and housing market analyst at Rightmove, comments:
“The activity we’ve seen on Rightmove since the Prime Minister’s initial announcement is the clearest indicator yet that there is huge appetite from home movers for Help to Buy. Also telling, however, is that three-quarters of registrations are from excited first-time buyers. No doubt Mr Osborne will be hoping that today’s announcements will whet the appetite of greater numbers of current home owners and encourage them to trade up or relocate so that the supply of new properties keeps pace with the increase in demand.”

On today’s announcements from lenders, Miles Shipside comments:
“The average asking price in England and Wales is nearly £250,000 which, under the scheme, would require a deposit of £12,500. Lenders will typically approve up to 4.5 times joint income for a couple meaning that, in this example, a couple would still need to demonstrate a joint income of around £53,000 before their mortgage application would be approved. Based on some of the rates that are starting to appear today for Help to Buy mortgages, that would mean monthly repayments of nearly £1,400. Raising the deposit has just got easier but affording the repayments will still be a challenge for many, with the better rates still being reserved for those with higher deposits.”

For more information about Help to Buy please visit our Help to Buy page.