Oral Answers to Questions

Sheila Gilmore Excerpts

Tuesday 24th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Mr Gauke]

Absolutely. If we want to see jobs and investment in this country, we should be taxing jobs and investment less, not more.

[Sheila Gilmore (Edinburgh East) (Lab)]

13. What plans he has to review the effects of the Help to Buy scheme.

[Diana Johnson (Kingston upon Hull North) (Lab)]

14. What progress his Department has made on the Help to Buy scheme.

[Sheila Gilmore]

I thank the Minister for that reply, but when in five London boroughs, for example, the value of properties sold under the scheme has been over £400,000, have we not reached the point at which we should be reviewing this urgently, because at the same time we are hearing increasing calls for the Financial Policy Committee to look at cooling the housing market? We could be cooling the mortgage market on the one hand and encouraging higher prices through Help to Buy on the other. It does not make sense.

[Andrea Leadsom]

The hon. Lady should be aware that the numbers just do not support what she is saying. In fact, 94% of all completions under Help to Buy are outside London, the average price of a home under the mortgage scheme is around £151,000, which is well below the UK average of £260,000, and only 1.3% of total mortgage lending is under the Help to Buy mortgage scheme.