There is a chronic shortage of London homes that qualify under the Government's flagship Help to Buy programme, new figures reveal. In eight of London's 32 borough there are no qualifying houses at all with many other boroughs, including Southwark, Greenwich and Barnet, having only a handful of listings. Help to Buy is open to first-time buyers with deposits of at least 5pc. The Government lends up to 40pc of the purchase price (in London, it is 20pc elsewhere) and the remaining 60pc is mortgaged. Properties must be new builds and not cost more than £600,000. However, research from James Pendleton, a London estate agent, found just 603 qualifying houses across the capital (see table, below).
A dearth of London homes that qualify for the UK government's Help to Buy scheme is forcing families to live in "cramped and uncomfortable" accommodation, according to Lucy Pendleton of estate agent James Pendleton. The average price paid by first-time buyers has risen from £150,000 a year ago to more than £220,000 this year, she said. "The mass extinction of Help to Buy houses has begun, exacerbated by the upper threshold which hasn’t moved in four years", she said.