Prices of new build properties in England increased over 17% in a year with record loans from the government’s Help to Buy scheme.

Data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) shows property values of new build homes are 17.6% higher year-to-year to the month of July supported by a record value of loans from Help to Buy.

On average property values of new build properties is £326,381 which is higher than the £238,125 paid for resold homes.

The government’s Help to Buy scheme support first time buyers and home movers to purchase their homes and in the past year has advance £2.54 billion of loans in England.

There have been 42,694 homeowners in England using Help to buy over the year of which 80.8% or 34,533 were first time buyer.

Strong rise in new build prices

Property prices for new builds in England have risen significantly more than existing resold homes which are up on average by only 4.6%.

The following table from the ONS shows average prices and annual change for new build homes in the UK to June 2017.

Region	Annual change	Average prices
London	14.4%	£543,706
South East	15.5%	£405,919
East of England	19.3%	£390,679
England	17.6%	£326,381
South West	19.6%	£321,427
West Midlands	20.0%	£278,667
East Midlands	19.8%	£268,990
North West	17.1%	£228,388
Yorks and the Humber	17.4%	£216,903
North East	3.8%	£209,044

House price growth in London is the slowest in the UK compared to other regions up 2.8% year-on-year and this is the first time this has happened since May 2009.

Even so the rise in house prices in the capital allows the older equity release mortgage buyer to stay in their home while accessing the wealth in their property, using this for any purpose such as improve their quality of life.

For remortgage buyers higher prices give them an opportunity to release capital which they can use to improve their home.

House prices for new build properties in the capital are up 14.4% for the year although for a month prices are lower by -3.0% due to affordability and difficulty to arrange a mortgage or find a large deposit.

Prices are also lower across England down -1.9% although over a year prices in the West Midlands are higher by 20.0% followed by the East Midlands higher by 19.8% and the South East up 19.6%.

The highest house prices paid for new build homes is in London at £543,706 and this is 11% higher than the average price for the capital at £488,729.

Help to buy used across England

Help to Buy equity loan was launched in April 2013 and by June 2017 there have been 134,558 completed purchases with a value of loans at £6.72 billion.

Of this 80.7% or 108,620 are first time buyers with value of loans at £5,26 billion and the remaining 25,938 are home movers.

London represented a small proportion with only 6.5% or 8,813 home bought using Help to Buy which is very popular in other regions across England.

The median price paid by first time buyers using Help to Buy was £204,950 and in London this increases to a median price of £379,950.

Help to Buy equity loans allows both first time buyers and home movers on purchase new-build property valued up to £600,000 with a maximum loan of £120,000 or 20%.

In Greater London loans can be up to £240,000 or 40% although these schemes are not available for second homes or buy-to-let properties.

What are your next steps?

Call our LCM mortgage brokers for advice if you are a first time buyer, want to remortgage your existing home for the best mortgage deal, moving home or are a buy-to-let investor.

Start with a free mortgage quote or call us and we can take your details.  Learn more by using the property value tracker chart, mortgage costs calculator and equity release calculator.

For equity release buyers our London City Mortgage advisers can recommend lifetime mortgages allowing you to receive cash from your property to consolidate debt or gift to a child or grandchild the deposit on their first home.

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