Help to Buy loans soar in 2020 Q4

There were 21,026 properties sold through Help to Buy: equity loan in the fourth quarter of 2020 using a total value of equity loans of £1,515 million according to new government figures.

These equity loans supported the purchase of £6,744 million worth of property. Of these 21,026 properties, 17,348 (83%) were bought by first time buyers, using a total value of equity loans of £1,246 million to purchase property worth a total of £5,406 million.

The total number of completions in Q4 2020 was up by 58% compared to the previous quarter, while they were up by 40% compared to Q4 2019.

Every region of England followed a similar pattern of completions during 2020, with completions in Q1 and Q2 being significantly below those of 2019. Completions in Q3 2020 were, on average, up 12% compared to 2019 (ranging from a 0% change in London to a 22% increase in the North East). In Q4 2020, all regions saw a large increase (average of 40%) in completions against 2019, with the North East and London seeing the largest increases of 53% and 52% respectively.

In the full year 2020 in England, home purchases completed under the Help to Buy:equity loan scheme totalled 49,714, …