The pilot scheme is set to be launched this week with Advantage, Bank of Scotland, Nationwide and Yorkshire Building Society all set to provide HomeBuy mortgages and equity loans of 12.5 per cent to help bridge the gap in affordability.
While housing associations will decide if a client is eligible for a HomeBuy product, Tamsin Hemsley, media relations manager at Nationwide, insisted brokers would be key in making the scheme work.
“Intermediaries are key to this. Housing associations can see whether someone is eligible but they can’t give financial advice, so the government is looking to get advisers involved as much as possible to help the client make the right choice.”
Paul Fincham, senior media relations officer at Halifax, believed the industry was ready for its introduction.
“While it is targeted at people who are considered priority FTBs, such as nurses, it will help a lot of FTBs. From a broker’s point of view, it will be another product suite to discuss with clients when looking across the whole of the market.”
However, Neil Johnson, PR and policy manager at the Building Societies Association (BSA), said the scheme did not go far enough.
“The government needs to expand HomeBuy to private sector workers as what matters is whether you can afford a property, rather than what uniform you wear. House prices are so high and while fireman play a very important role in the community, bus drivers and supermarket workers are also essential in helping an area work.”
Tony Catt, an IFA based in Hove, Sussex, believed any scheme that helped FTBs had to be applauded.
“House prices have gone beyond the reach of most people. In Brighton, there are people in decent jobs that can’t afford a small flat so any initiative which helps drag homes back towards private ownership for these people is a good thing.”
