‘Help to Build’ - the start of a building revolution?

On the 24th April the Housing Secretary announced his plans to provide 150 million pounds in government funding to make it easier for people to build their own homes, whether it be commissioned, made-to-order or a personal design, with the aim of enabling more people to get onto the housing ladder.

This is to be known as the ‘Help to Build’ Scheme. The Government believes that in providing such a scheme, a further 30-40,000 homes per year could be built, thus contributing to the already buoyant housing market as well as benefiting smaller building firms.

Although further details are yet to be revealed by the Government, the Help to Build Scheme would be set to work in the following way:

• Builders are to secure a mortgage with a 5% deposit
• The mortgage lender would provide the further 95% of the funding needed
• On completion of the build the government would then provide to the lender 20% of the cost of the build, thus reducing the outstanding mortgage to 75%.

Similar in its nature to the Help to Buy Equity Loan which has contributed to the boost in the supply and demand of new build homes, it was deemed that a similar scheme should be made available for self-built homes, as custom built homes continue to grow in popularity throughout the U.K. However the key difference here being that the loan is paid to the mortgage lender on completion of the self-build, rather than to the builder on legal completion of the sale.

Although more details are yet to be released by the Housing Secretary in due course, this scheme can be viewed as an apparent commitment from the Government into the diversification of the housing sector. The scheme has been described as being a ‘game changer’ for self-builders and is a step in the right direction for those that may have struggled to get the necessary funding previously.

If you decide that now is the time for you to move or get a foot on the property ladder, please call our Conveyancing team on 0808 168 5643 or email info@ramsdens.co.uk for a quote from our expert team.