Wokingham tops Helps to Buy chart
WOKINGHAM has seen more people buy homes using the Help To Buy scheme than any other part of Berkshire.
The Government-backed initiative was launched in April 2013 and allows any homebuyer to secure a brand new home under the value of £600,000 with 5% deposit.
The government lends the buyer 20% of the value of the property in the form of an interest free equity loan for five years, meaning that buyers then gain access to some of the great mortgage rates currently available with just a 75% mortgage.
The scheme is open to all homebuyers, not just first timers.
Since its launch, 831 people have bought a new home in Wokingham under the scheme - 663 were first time buyers.
Slough was the next highest local authority, with 395 completions. Bracknell Forest was third with 306, West Berkshire had 298, Reading 249 and Windsor and Maidenhead had just 153.
In total, across Berkshire, 2,232 homes were bought under the Help To Buy scheme and 1,883 of these were first time buyers.
Rob Allen, sales director at David Wilson Homes Southern, said: “Berkshire has produced some strong results for the Help to Buy scheme and it is great to see districts such as Wokingham and Reading, where we build homes, achieving such high figures for the scheme in the county.
“Help to Buy has proved so helpful to so many homebuyers and we would encourage anyone looking to buy a home with lower upfront costs to get in touch.”