Member Article

Welsh Housing Minister sees first-hand how Help to Buy – Wales is boosting sales

One month after its launch, Help to Buy – Wales is gathering momentum, with househunters in South Wales taking advantage of this landmark scheme.

Yesterday (Thursday February 20) the Minister for Housing and Regeneration, Carl Sargeant had been finding out first-hand the positive impact the Welsh Government scheme it is having on the market.

The Minister launched the £170m initiative at the start of the New Year and has been in Port Talbot to meet one of the first couples to benefit from the scheme.

First time buyers Kevin Thomas and Kelly Ricketts have realised their dream of becoming homeowners at Barratt Homes’ Copperminers development thanks to Help to Buy – Wales and were on hand for the Minister’s visit this week.

The Minister said:“I’m delighted to be able to welcome Kevin and Kelly to this wonderful Barratt development.

“Help to Buy - Wales is designed to support home ownership by making houses more affordable for homebuyers in Wales whilst at the same time providing a much needed boost to the housing industry and it’s clear that it’s already beginning to do both.

“Since we launched the scheme in January, 47 builders have registered to take part and it has attracted over 260 expressions of interest from potential buyers, with around 60% of the applications so far coming from first time buyers.”

Steve Williams, managing director of Barratt Homes in South Wales said he was delighted the Minister had visited the development to see how the scheme is really helping first time buyers and those looking for a new home.

“The arrival of Help to Buy – Wales is a key milestone in the housing market and has given an already improving market a real boost,’’ said Steve. “We’ve already had seen an increase in demand for our homes here in Wales, with Barratt sites busier now than at any time in the last five years.

He said Help to Buy – Wales is vital in the local market because lending at high loan to values has been absent from mortgage lending and shows no sign of returning. Kevin and Kelly said that without Help to Buy – Wales they would still be waiting to become homeowners and were impressed with the combination of the low deposit and equity loan.

“We only needed to put down a 5% deposit and that meant we had enough savings left over to furnish our new home too which saves us sitting on boxes,’’ said Kevin.

“We did look at older homes but the mortgage on those would have been around £660 compared with £380 on our new home and it’s also so much cheaper than renting a similar home.’’

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Barratt Homes .