Of the 27,861 homes purchased using Help to Buy 74% were new build, while private house building has increased by 34% since its launch.
David Cameron, prime minister, said: “Help to Buy has helped thousands of hardworking people to buy a new home and crucially it is helping to increase the number of new homes being built around the country.
“It is an important part of our long term plan to back those who want to get on and to secure a better future for Britain.”
The scheme has funded new homes across the breadth of the country, as 94% of completions through the scheme took place outside of London.
Stewart Basele, executive chairman of the Home Builders Federation, said: “After a number of years when house building levels fell to a record low level, all indicators show supply is now increasing rapidly.
“The Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme is supporting demand for new build homes - and if buyers can buy, builders can build.
“Its extension provides certainty about longer–term demand that will allow the industry to plan ahead, rebuild capacity lost in the downturn and ultimately deliver sustainable increases in supply.
“This is providing desperately needed homes and also creating tens of thousands of jobs on sites across the country and in the supply chain.”
David Cameron visited a construction site in Ilkeston in Derby today where Taylor Wimpey is building around 280 new homes, many being purchased via Help to Buy.
And Pete Redfern, chief executive officer of Taylor Wimpey, said: “Help to Buy Equity Loan has given more people the confidence and the ability to step onto or move up the housing ladder.
“It enables us to build more homes on the sites we have already got open, and has given us more confidence to invest in future sites and infrastructure which creates more jobs and economic activity locally.”
Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, added: “Confidence about the year ahead in the construction industry as a whole surged higher last summer, attributed by many companies to the various policy initiatives that have been put in place, including Help to Buy, Funding for Lending and the Bank of England’s ‘forward guidance’.
“The latest survey data shows confidence remaining close to record highs in April, suggesting the sector will continue to boom as we move through the summer.”
