Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the return from Help to Buy deposits used to purchase leasehold properties when they are resold.

From the start of the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme in April 2013 to the end of December 2017, 3,905 equity loans taken out on leasehold properties have been redeemed, to a total value of £188,874,391. On 21 December 2017 the Government announced it would bring forward legislation to prohibit new long leases from being granted on houses, apart from in exceptional circumstances. The then Secretary of State, the Rt Hon Sajid Javid also wrote to all developers to strongly discourage the use of Help to Buy equity loans for the purchase of leasehold houses.

The sector has responded positively and, of the 26 biggest developers in Englandthat use Help to Buy, the majority have confirmed that they will meet this expectation.