Scheme helps build a fortune Housing firms profit from Help to Buy

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BOVIS yesterday became the latest housebuilder to announce record profits thanks to a taxpayer-funded mortgage scheme.

The firm made £168million last year, up nearly 50%, with sales topping £1billion. Just under 40% of its private buyers used Help to Buy.

The scheme, launched in 2013, sees the Government lend up to 20% of the cost of a newly built home, with no interest charged for the first five years.

On Tuesday, rival Persimmon, where nearly half its buyers used Help to Buy, announced annual profits had hit £1bn.

There are question marks over Persimmon’s future in the scheme amid controversy over build quality and fatcat pay. On Wednesday, Taylor Wimpey said its annual profits rose 19% to £810m with 36% of buyers using Help to Buy.

Bovis made around £44,700 profit on each of the 3,759 homes it sold. The company is partway through an overhaul which, it says, has seen it tackle complaints about build quality.

Bovis also announced the creation of a Partnership Housing division, which will be dedicated to housing association work.

Analyst Russ Mould of AJ Bell said the UK’S nine biggest housebuilders had grown their combined cash piles by £500m to £3.5bn and dividends rose 28% to £2.3bn.

He added: “Whether they are doing enough to please wouldbe housebuyers (and therefore politicians) may be harder to decide.” Oil = $66.02

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