The number of properties bought using a help-to-buy mortgage decreased  substantially during the third quarter of 2021.

Government figures show a total of 7,270 properties were bought using this equity loan scheme between 1 July and 30 September last year. This figure was 39% lower than the same period in 2019, and 33% lower than the previous quarter. 

A total of 346,656 properties were bought using this scheme from 1 April to 30 September. Over this six-month period the value of these equity loans totalled £21.4bn, while the value of the property bought using these loans were £96.4bn. 

During this period, homebuyers also benefited from the stamp duty holiday, although this tax give-away was gradually phased out in the three months to the end of September.

The current help to buy scheme was relaunched in April 2021, with eligibility restricted to first time buyers and new regional price caps, which has also restricted access to this scheme.

Government figure reviewing property sales using different iterations of this Help to Buy scheme,  show that the number of completions dropped significantly when the initial restrictions were imposed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with completions in May 2020 down by 66% when compared to May 2019. 

Following the removal of these lockdown restrictions and the introduction of the stamp duty holiday in July 2020, completions increased, with December 2020 having the highest number of completions for the entire scheme, 35% higher than December 2019.

The introduction of the new scheme in Q2 2021 led to a reduction in completions compared to Q1 2021 in all regions of England except London. 

The capital was the only region that was no subject to a change in price cap, maintaining the £600,000 limit held from the previous help to buy scheme. 

In all regions completions were down in the third quarter when compared to quarter two 2021, and were the fewest completions since the lockdown period. Completions in the North West are down by the greatest amount, while the decrease in the South West have been more muted, with completions in these regions reducing by 61% and 17% respectively between Q3 2019 and Q3 2021.

Data from the help to buy scheme shows that the median household income of those accessing this scheme was lower in quarter 3 2021, when compared to the final quarter of the previous scheme, when there was not the first-time buyer criteria. 

The help to buy scheme has been running over eight years. Since the start of the scheme the South East consistently had the most completions with the North East having the fewest over most of the period the scheme was running. It can also be seen that London had the fewest completions up to March 2016 but completions increased rapidly following the introduction of the 40% equity loan in February 2016.