Hammond ditches Help to Buy mortgage guarantees

THERESA MAY’S Government has announced the end of the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme in another significant break with former prime minister David Cameron’s legacy.

The flagship scheme, unveiled by exchancellor George Osborne in 2013, offered first-time buyers the opportunity to buy a home with a governmentbacked loan worth up to 95 per cent of the value of the property.

Philip Hammond, the Chancellor said that more than 30 commercial lenders are now offering loans outside the scheme, meaning that the “specific purpose” of the scheme has now been “successfully” achieved.

The end of the scheme has led to concerns that first-time buyers could find it even more difficult to get on the property ladder with small deposits.

Experts have called for it to be replaced amid concerns that the market for first time buyers is already in decline. They have suggested that the number of mortgage deals available with a 5 per cent deposit could halve after the Government pulls the scheme. The number of deals currently available has fallen by nearly 15 per cent since March.

Mrs May has already angered Mr Cameron’s supporters by announc- ing a new generation of grammar schools, while there are also questions over her commitment to Mr Osborne’s plans for a “Northern Powerhouse”.

People born in the early 1980s are about half as wealthy at the age of 30 as their counterparts born in the Seventies, analysis shows.

Those now in their early 30s have an average net household wealth of £27,000, says a report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies. For those born in the 1970s, the figure was £53,000 by the same age, taking into account housing, financial and private pension wealth.