Government buying schemes are in high demand, but supply is low.
Online agency Yopa has analysed the current market for for-sale housing stock in England, looking at what proportion of homes currently listed for sale boast the added benefit of a buyer scheme.
Buying schemes refer to various government and industry initiatives including Shared Ownership, the First Homes scheme, and deposit assistance schemes such as Deposit Unlock.
Buying scheme availability in today’s market is low. Across England, just 2.3% of available homes are available through such a scheme*.
The South East presents homebuyers with the best opportunity of securing a property with a buying scheme, but even so, such properties still account for just 3.4% of the region’s current market.
The East of England and South West also promise above-average opportunities with buying scheme stock accounting for 2.7% and 2.4% of all local for-sale properties respectively.
While stock levels are low, further analysis from Yopa suggests that this is not a result of low buyer appetite for such opportunities. In fact, across England, 30.6% of buying scheme homes have already been snapped up.
Demand climbs as high as 41.6% in the West Midlands, followed by the North West (40.4%), North East (37.8%), and East Midlands (37.3%).
A surplus of first-time buyers
Buying schemes are, by and large, designed to assist first-time buyers in particular, providing a more affordable and accessible way for people to get their first foot on the ladder.
However, Yopa’s insight reveals that far too few buying scheme properties come to market to get anywhere close to satisfying potential demand.
Across a full 12 month period, an estimated total of almost 50,000 (46,903) buying scheme homes are expected to be made available on England’s market.
But the number of first-time buyers in a year is estimated to stand at 261,859*. As such, there are only enough buying scheme opportunities to satisfy 17.9% of first-time buyers in a year.
However, first-time buyers in some regions stand a much better chance of securing a buying scheme property.
In the East of England, there are enough buying scheme homes to account for 48.1% of first-time buyers. Well over a fifth of first-time buyers can also be matched with a buying scheme in the South East (26.5%), and South West (22.3%).
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