Help to Buy had the biggest impact in Barking and Dagenham

Some 61.7% of new build homes have been sold in the area utilising the scheme.

Help to Buy had the biggest impact in Barking and Dagenham

Since the Help to Buy scheme was introduced in 2013, East London’s Barking and Dagenham has benefitted the most with 61.7% of new build homes sold utilising the scheme, Proportunity has found.

Waltham Forest (51.7%) was the only other borough to break the 50% mark, with Sutton (47.4%), Havering (44.2%) and Redbridge (38.8%) also ranking in the top five.

Vadim Toader, founder and chief executive of Proportunity, said:“While Help to Buy has had its fair share of criticism, the scheme undoubtedly breathed new life into a struggling housing market and helped thousands achieve their dream of homeownership in the capital.

“Outer London boroughs have seen the most Help to Buy activity, while places such as the City of London and Kensington and Chelsea have seen virtually no Help to Buy transactions.

“This is likely down to the scheme’s restricted eligibility to new builds only and the lack of accessibly priced new developments coming forward in these areas, further limiting people from taking advantage of Help to Buy thanks to the price cap imposed by the government.

“Although Help to Buy will likely be phased out in the coming years, housing affordability still remains a major issue, especially in London and the South East.

“Whether it is from the government, their parents or new entrants like us, many first-time buyers will need financial assistance from someone if they are to get onto the housing ladder at a reasonable age.”

However, two inner London boroughs saw almost no Help to Buy activity.

Kensington and Chelsea only saw 14 loans since 2013 (1.1% of all new build sales), while the City of London has only had five (0.7% of all new build sales).

Across the whole of London, Help to Buy supported 21.75% of new build sales.

When taking into account other types of property too, the scheme contributed to only 2.6% of total sales across London.

The boroughs where Help to Buy made up the highest proportion of all sales included Barking and Dagenham (5.2%), Greenwich (4.6%), and Barnet (4.6%).

The majority (84.2%) of all Help to Buy loans since the scheme launched have been used on flats.