Speaking ahead of tomorrow’s Budget, Boulger predicted that George Osborne will announce how many homes have been sold using the two Help to Buy schemes.
Boulger said: “What I think is going to be most interesting is any extra detail he can give on Help to Buy 1.
“Building on a scheme that is working well makes sense and house building needs to be at levels of 200,000 a year.”
He called for the Help to Buy equity loan scheme to charge 3% interest from the start rather than fees after six years.
Boulger added: “3% would still be a really good value for buyers and it would bring money in for the government.”
Secondly, he said, Help to Buy 1 should be regulated, especially as the scheme is more complicated than normal mortgages.
Help to Buy agents, who command £600 for every application, were branded a waste of money.
He said: “It would be much more sensible to negotiate with the lenders when making an application. The government is throwing away £600 per application.”
Currently lenders are nervous about doing high LTV on new properties, he added, which is forcing the government’s hand.
“In the longer term basis the government should not be involved in this type of scheme long-term.
“Yet a lot of economists talk about the scheme as a subsidy, but I think this is rubbish, as when you factor in the other economic impacts the government will make money from the scheme.”
