A government initiative is helping thousands of families in Leicestershire to get on to the housing ladder. New figures released by the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) reveal that a total of 4,299 homebuyers in Leicestershire used the Help to Buy scheme since it was launched four years ago.

Within the county the districts that made the best use of the scheme were Charnwood (927), North West Leicestershire (795), Hinckley and Bosworth (679) and Blaby (689). Of the total amount of homebuyers that benefited from the scheme, 2,958 were first time buyers.

Local housebuilders Barratt Homes North Midlands and David Wilson Homes East Midlands are encouraging homebuyers throughout Leicestershire to take part in the popular scheme that has already helped tens of thousands of people across the country to buy a brand new home. Moreover, the recent Budget announcement that first time buyers are now exempt from Stamp Duty (on properties up to £300,000) means that there is another compelling reason to get on the property ladder now.

The Help to Buy scheme enables anyone, both first time buyers and existing owners, to put down just five per cent as a deposit for their new home and to take advantage of a government equity loan providing access to more affordable mortgage rates.

Jason Hearn, Sales Director for David Wilson East Midlands said: “We are pleased to see that Leicestershire homebuyers are taking advantage of the highly popular Help to Buy scheme.”

Jan Ruston, Sales Director for Barratt Homes North Midlands, added: “Help to Buy has proved so helpful to so many homebuyers and we would encourage anyone looking to buy a home with lower upfront costs to get in touch.”

Help to Buy allows any homebuyer to secure a brand new home under the value of £600,000 with just a five per cent deposit. The government lends the buyer 20 per cent of the value of the property in the form of an interest free equity loan for five years, meaning that buyers then gain access to some of the great mortgage rates currently available with just a 75 per cent mortgage. Available to all homebuyers, not just first timers, the scheme helps anyone looking for a boost up the property ladder.

You can find more information on Help to Buy on both the Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes websites - http://www.barratthomes.co.uk/Offers/Help-to-Buy/ and http://www.dwh.co.uk/Offers/HTB-Calculator/ together with a handy calculator which shows how much people can borrow using the scheme.

Parent company Barratt Developments has helped more than 19,000 people buy their home through government shared equity schemes such as Help to Buy, more than any other housebuilder.

Breakdown of total Help to Buy sales within Leicestershire since the scheme launched in April 2013:

Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes have a range of developments across Leicestershire.

Barratt Homes North Midlands currently has a selection of homes available at its New Lubbesthorpe and City Heights developments in Leicester.

David Wilson Homes East Midlands has new homes available at the following developments: Abbots View and Stenson's Quarter in Coalville, Forest Chase in Leicester Forest East, Hastings Park in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Hunters Lodge in Barrow-upon-Soar, The Chimes in Loughborough, The Spinney in Burbage, New Lubbsethorpe in Leicester, Nursery Fields in Measham and Whetstone Park in Whetstone.

To find out more information about any nearby developments, please call the David Wilson Homes sales team on 0844 811 5544 or the Barratt Homes sales team on 0844 811 3377.

Alternatively you can visit www.dwh.co.uk or www.barratthomes.co.uk

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

1. For further information about Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes please contact Hannah Elwell or Mark Sheppard on 0116 247 1777 or hannah@unsworthsugden.co.uk or mark@unsworthsugden.co.uk

1. Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes are part of Barratt Developments PLC, a FTSE100 company

1. Barratt Developments PLC sold 17,395 homes in the year to June 2017, making it the biggest housebuilder by volume in Britain

1. Barratt Developments PLC was awarded a maximum five star rating for the eighth consecutive year in the 2017 Home Builders Federation Customer Satisfaction Survey

1. Site managers working for Barratt Developments PLC won 74 awards for quality workmanship in the 2017 NHBC Pride in the Job Awards. Barratt Developments PLC has won more Pride in the Job awards than any other housebuilder for the last 13 years