Help to Buy remains a mystery to many, says Rightmove

More than one in five people are planning to buy a home in the next 12 months as a direct result of Help to Buy, or are bringing their plans forward because of it.

But only 5% of sellers say they are going to put their homes on the market because of it.

The findings emerge in a new report out this morning from Rightmove, which says that 29% of people planning to buy in the next 12 months are first-time buyers – the highest proportion the site has recorded for over three years.

Yet the Rightmove findings also say that many people do not understand phase two of Right to Buy, with 42% of home movers wrongly thinking it is for first-time buyers only, and one third of first-time buyers saying they do not understand the scheme.

Rightmove says that if more people understood it, than it would help get transactions flowing and balance supply and demand: the survey says 31% are “waiting to see what happens” before deciding whether to buy or sell.

Currently on Rightmove, 92% of all properties for sale are within the potential £600,000 threshold of Help to Buy phase two. Traffic to Rightmove since the phase two announcement is up 30% on last year.

The study was conducted among over 40,000 people.

Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove, said that the confusion over Help to Buy needs to be addressed.

He said: “This scheme has the potential to offer hope and confidence to many of these home owners, enabling them to come to market and free up some much-needed supply.

“But there’s clearly a lot more that still needs to be done to make sure the maximum number of people who could benefit directly from the scheme or its knock-on effects, can do so. 

“A significant proportion of people say they are waiting to see what happens – but if they better understood how the wider benefits of the scheme could help them trade up or downsize, it might open up more supply and lead to a healthier and more sustainable housing market.”

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/help-to-buy.html