The Welsh government has extended its Help to Buy scheme by 18 months as part of its Draft Budget.
The scheme, which was introduced in 2014, will now run until the end of September 2026, with £57million in capital funding provided for the 2025/26 financial year.
The Help to Buy Wales scheme was set to expire in March 2025 after having been extended in December 2022, and will now run past the next Senedd elections due in May 2026. It is anticipated that the maximum purchase will stay at £300,000.
The Home Builders Federation had recently called for an extension to the initiative and released a report in September demonstrating the benefits that the scheme has brought for the Welsh Government.
The HBF’s analysis, which it shared with members of the Senedd, found that 46% of Help to Buy Wales loans have been fully repaid with a total value of £281.99million, a return of over £40million for the Welsh Government with an average uplift of 18% per equity loan.
Neil Jefferson, CEO of the Home Builders Federation, said: “We warmly welcome the Welsh government’s extension of Help to Buy Wales given the ongoing challenges faced by first-time buyers amidst a lack of affordable mortgage availability.”
“As well as helping people who can afford to buy to do so, the scheme will also provide certainty of demand for house builders that will allow the industry to invest in housing delivery.”
“Recent HBF research shows that the Help to Buy Wales scheme has delivered on all its objectives, supporting over 14,000 households to buy a home and generating £240million in economic activity a year.”
“We now need to see the UK government following suit and matching this commitment to home ownership and housing delivery. It is the first time in decades there has not been a support scheme for buyers in England and if we are to meet the government’s challenging housing ambitions, such a scheme will be essential.”
Also included in the Welsh government’s Draft Budget was a £3.7million investment for the upcoming year to accelerate planning decisions and digitise planning services.
£81million in funding will be dedicated to the Social Housing Grant and Transitional Accommodation Capital Programmes, which will help to deliver more homes for social rent.
The Draft Budget will now be scrutinised by the Senedd, with the finalised Budget being published in February 2025.
