New hope for first-time buyers in Wales

The Government’s Help to Buy – Wales scheme, designed to help first-time buyers on to the property ladder, is changing soon, offering fresh opportunities to would-be home buyers in Wales, according to leading housebuilder Persimmon Homes.

Introduced in 2014, Help to Buy enabled purchasers to put down just a 5% deposit on a newly-built home, with up to 20% of the cost of the home being funded by a shared equity loan, which is interest-free for the first five years.

And, unlike the England equivalent, from April 1 2021 Help to Buy – Wales will not be restricted solely to first-time buyers.

The price cap in Wales has been reduced from £300,000 to £250,000 – and all homes need to be broadband ready.

Andy Edwards, managing director at Persimmon Homes West Wales, said: “Starting on 1 April next year, the new Help to Buy programme lets eligible buyers in this area borrow up to 20% of the cost of a new Persimmon home from the Government. This applies to new homes in Wales up to £250,000 in value.”

Andy added: “At Persimmon we are registered for the new scheme and believe it can bring home ownership within the reach of thousands who may otherwise have struggled, especially after the unique circumstances we’ve all faced over the past year.

“Across the UK, Help to Buy has already helped more than 270,000 into home ownership, of which four-in-five are first-time buyers. The revised scheme aims to build further on this success.”

How Help to Buy – Wales works:

• You pay a deposit of 5% of the purchase price of your new home when contracts are exchanged.
• The scheme provides a shared equity loan of up to 20% of the purchase price
• You must take out a repayment mortgage to cover the remaining amount

To find out more about the updated Help to Buy programme you can visit the Persimmon Homes website: www.persimmonhomes.com or call your local Persimmon advisor on 01792 229800.