Value for Money
Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme – progress review
Published 13 June 2019
7 recommendations
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Business and industryCommercial and financial managementCorporate financeLocal services and housingRegulation
nao.org.uk
This report assesses the scheme’s performance against its objectives, its management, and plans for the future of the scheme.
Recommendations (7)
Source: NAO Recommendations Tracker
Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government
Rec 1
Accepted
Implemented
Housing market conditions have changed since the start of the scheme. The Department should assess the existing scheme against current market conditions and determine whether any changes to how it operates and criteria for eligibility would increase its impact.
Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government
Rec 2
Accepted
Implemented
The Department should consider further changes to the new scheme from 2021 to achieve other housing policy goals, for example to enact the government’s commitment to addressing the practice of developers selling new houses as leasehold.
Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government
Rec 3
Accepted
Work in Progress
The Department should plan a further evaluation of the scheme, either soon to inform the new scheme from 2021, or after the end of the current scheme to inform potential new initiatives to support home ownership and housing supply after 2023.
Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government
Rec 4
Accepted
Implemented
The Department should support Homes England to take appropriate enforcement action to recover money due from homeowners who have fallen into arrears.
Homes England
Rec 5
Accepted
Implemented
Homes England should continue to improve its oversight of the Help to Buy agents and its mortgage administrator Target.
Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government
Rec 6
Accepted
Implemented
The Department should review the information given by the Help to Buy agents and developers to potential buyers, to confirm that it fully explains the financial risks of buying a new-build property through the scheme.
Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government
Rec 7
Accepted
Work in Progress
The Department has not undertaken a detailed assessment of the impact of the scheme on the wider housing market. It should expand the scope of its next evaluation to examine such wider effects, including a potential influence on the new-build premium, and identify lessons learned for any future interventions.