This article by TheGuardian on 23th July, 2013 can benefit first-time buyers in procuring newly-built homes.
Regeneration-led developments at former car factories contribute to success of scheme for acquiring newly-built homes
More than a quarter of demand for homes under the Help to Buy scheme for acquiring newly built homes has been in the West Midlands. The area has accounted for 1,873 out of 6,899 reservations across England. Mark Evans, head of new homes in central England at estate agent Knight Frank, says Help to Buy has opened up the lower end of the market, where people most struggle to raise deposits: "It has had a lot of PR, it has had such a lot of profile and it has helped unlock the marketplace to a certain extent."
Help to Buy has also taken off in this region because the Midlands has plenty of regeneration-led developments at former car factories, according to Margaret Snook of Orbit, the country's largest Help to Buy agent, which operates in the West Midlands and East Anglia. "There doesn't seem to be a shortage of properties in most areas," she says. "In Birmingham, the Black Country, Coventry, there are big [development] sites."
The mortgage guarantee scheme has universal appeal, she adds. "It is not a particular income bracket or type of person. It is families, it is single people, it is couples; people on lower incomes, people on higher incomes." Her impression is that the scheme is heavily weighted in favour of first-time buyers, although there is a strong pull for existing homeowners, who are keen to move. "It is helping people to be more mobile."
This means that aAverage property prices of £130,432 in Wolverhampton look set to rise, but Snook says it is not yet possible to judge whether Help to Buy is driving up prices. "Whether that is directly linked to Help to Buy or rising confidence, it is too early to say."
Author: Jennifer Rankin
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