Generally, Ian Wilson, head of Halifax Intermediaries, says market activity is still relatively low by historical standards and home sales remain below their peak levels.
It is helping the market but Mr Wilson says it still remains a small proportion of all transactions.
Mr Wilson says: “What we are seeing however is the impact of improving confidence in both the housing market and the economy, combined with a shortage of properties available for sale.”
Brian Murphy, head of lending at Derby-based Mortgage Advice Bureau, says Help to Buy has not fuelled house price inflation as the large gains attributable to specific areas of London and the south-east have almost entirely been unrelated to Help to Buy transactions.
According to official data, the total value of the equity loans since inception was £1.13bn, with the value of the properties sold under the scheme totalling £5.65bn. The mean purchase price of a property bought under the scheme was £207,967, compared with a mean equity loan of £41,413.
Most of the home purchases in the Help to Buy equity loan scheme were made by first-time buyers, accounting for 85 per cent of total purchases.
In addition, the Treasury stated that during the first six months of the scheme just 5 per cent of purchases using Help to Buy 2 were located in London, with 14 per cent in the north-west, 14 per cent in the south-east, followed by 9 per cent in the east Midlands, Yorkshire and Humberside and the east.
But aside from the impact on house prices, Mr Murphy says one of the positive impacts that Help to Buy has had is to enable many of the countries house builders to step up activity in new home building.
House builders have been able to re-open sites that were mothballed and push ahead with planning applications on land banks, Mr Murphy adds.
He says: “The scheme has had a profound effect on providing more employment opportunities for builders and trades people and has encouraged many of the builders to once again commence apprenticeships for young people.”
It was the media buzz surrounding the scheme that generated interest among first-timers, encouraging many to get on the housing ladder, says Richard Sexton, director of e.surv.
Some of those spurred into action by the media buzz have discovered they don’t actually need the scheme to access loans, but Mr Sexton says it gave them the confidence to find out. But he says Help to Buy cannot be held responsible for the bulk of house price inflation.
Mr Sexton says: “That is a result of a shortage of housing stock, which is concentrating pressure in the market, and driving up prices.
“In fact, recent statistics released by HM Treasury on Help to Buy Two show just 5 per cent of mortgages completed to date under the scheme were in London – the region in which house prices are rising the fastest.
“But Help to Buy has acted like a crutch for the market in the rest of the country, especially in areas in much earlier days of recovery, where the bulk of borrowers have less cash saved up for a deposit, and need more of a helping hand to get on the housing ladder.”
