Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many armed forces personnel and their families have been rejected by the Forces Help to Buy scheme’s application process since the establishment of that scheme by rank.

Since the Forces Help to Buy Scheme (FHTB) began, 51,186 First Stage FHTB applications have been received. 26,317 of these applications have proceeded to the Second Stage.

Payment has been made to around 22,200 applicants, totaling around £336 million, an average of approximately £15,100 per claim. At least 95% of payments, as at 30 September 2020, have already resulted in a purchased property or extension.

Detailed statistics on FHTB are published quarterly and can be found at the following address:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/forces-help-to-buy-scheme-quarterly-statistics-index.

However, it will take time to collate information on the numbers of applications, by rank, which did not pass initial and detailed eligibility checks and I will write in due course.