Help to Buy Equity Loans have helped fund more than 150,000 purchases
Thursday's data release for the 2017 calendar year comes five years since the scheme's inception.
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The number of properties bought with a Help to Buy Equity Loan in England reached 158,883 at the end of 2017, with 81 percent of applicants buying their first home.
The data, released by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, shows a steady increase in take up since Help to Buy's inception in the second quarter of 2013, when 2,103 loans were issued, to the fourth quarter of 2017, when 13,937 homes were bought using the policy.
Average purchase prices and applicant household incomes have risen since the scheme started. This can, in part, be attributed to the increase in the maximum equity loan for buyers in London from 20% to 40% of the purchase price in February 2016. Since then, there have been 6,867 completions in London, of which 5,546 were made with an equity loan of more than 20%.
The average purchase price for first time buyers in London was £448,552 during the fourth quarter of 2017, up from £444,704 in Q4 2016. For non-first time buyers, the average purchase price was £531,111, up from £490,421 in Q4 2016.
The average applicant household income for those taking out a Help to Buy Equity Loan in Q4 2017 stood at £54,833 in England, and £71,869 in London.
Top ten locations for Help to Buy take up:
