Mortgages: Government Assistance

Monday 2nd December 2013 Ministerial Corrections

[Steve McCabe]

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) what proportion of Help to Buy applicants to date were aged 39 and over;

(2) how many people have had their application for a Help to Buy mortgage accepted in principle in (a) Birmingham, (b) Birmingham, Selly Oak constituency and (c) the West Midlands;

(3) what proportion of applicants to the Help to Buy scheme to date have not been first-time buyers.

[Official Report, 26 November 2013, Vol. 571, c. 258-59W.]

Letter of correction from Sajid Javid:

An error has been identified in the written answer given to the hon. Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Steve McCabe) on 26 November 2013.

The full answer given was as follows:

[Sajid Javid]

The Government is committed to making the aspiration of home ownership a reality for as many households as possible. The Government wants current and future generations to experience the benefits of owning their own home, in the same way their parents were able to. Since the financial crisis, larger deposit requirements and falling equity values mean many credit-worthy households cannot get a mortgage, or are trapped in their existing homes unable to take the next steps.

In the one month since the publication of the scheme rules on 8 October, more than 2,000 people have put in applications to lenders under the Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee scheme totalling £365 million of new mortgage lending. Lenders will submit details of their loans to the scheme when it opens in January.

More than three quarters of the applicants are first time buyers and many in their early thirties, demonstrating that the Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee scheme is helping hardworking people realise their home-owning aspirations.

Once the Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee scheme opens in January, the Government will collect data on mortgages covered by the guarantee, and will report in due course.

The correct answer should have been:

[Sajid Javid]

The Government is committed to making the aspiration of home ownership a reality for as many households as possible. The Government wants current and future generations to experience the benefits of owning their own home, in the same way their parents were able to. Since the financial crisis, larger deposit requirements and falling equity values mean many credit-worthy households cannot get a mortgage, or are trapped in their existing homes unable to take the next steps.

In the one month since the publication of the scheme rules on 8 October, more than 2,000 people had put in applications to lenders under the Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee scheme totalling £365 million of new mortgage lending. The Royal Bank of Scotland received 81 of these applications from the west midlands.

More than three quarters of the applicants are first time buyers and many in their early thirties, demonstrating that the Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee scheme is helping hardworking people realise their home-owning aspirations.

Once the Help to Buy: mortgage guarantee scheme opens in January, the Government will collect data on mortgages covered by the guarantee, and will report in due course.