Home Residential PropertyHelp-To-Buy Thousands helped onto the property ladder through home ownership schemes
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Thousands helped onto the property ladder through home ownership schemes

by LLP Reporter
18th Jun 19 2:46 pm

The Scottish government has helped more than 30,000 households with buying a home since 2007, official figures show.

The majority of those who were helped were first-time-buyers or young people, analysis suggests.

The two home ownership schemes, the Low Cost Initiative for First-Time Buyers (LIFT) and the Help to Buy Scotland, has received more than £1.2bn of investment from the Scottish government.

According to statistics, 32,572 households have used the home ownership scheme in just over a decade. 79% of those on the scheme were agreed 35-years or younger in 2018 and 2019.

Housing Minister Kevin Stewart said, “We want to make sure everyone has a safe, warm, affordable place to call home, and creating a fairer housing market will help us achieve that.

“A home is so much more than just a place to live – it awards a sense of identity, belonging and pride.”

He added, “We know how difficult it can be for many people to save for a deposit and get on to the property ladder, especially without financial support from family and friends.

“I am pleased these figures show we are supporting young first-time buyers on to the property ladder, with more than 80% of households being first-time buyers and more than 70% aged 35 and under.

“These current programmes will be joined by a Scottish Government national pilot scheme to provide support for first-time buyers by contributing to the deposit they need when buying their first home.”

Scottish Liberal Democrat housing spokeswoman Caron Lindsay said, “People will be surprised to see households with an income of up to £100,000 accessing the SNP Government’s Help to Buy scheme.

“Households with this sort of income should be able to afford to buy a home without the Government’s help.

“If the system is imbalanced then the risk is that Help to Buy drives up prices while having little effect on supply.”

She added, “The Scottish Government needs to consider whether this is really the best use of its resources.

“We could do so much more for people on lower incomes.

“Ministers also need to reflect on the National Audit Office’s report last week, which found that the equivalent scheme in England saw big builders raking in profits and the system being used by people who didn’t necessarily need it.”

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