First-tlme buyer dreams dashed by build delays

A bureaucratic deadline means hundreds of hopeful buyers stand to miss out on their goal of home ownership as government support slips out of reach.

- Charlotte Duck

When the Help W to Buy equity loan scheme came to an end on October 31, Charlie Cook was thrilled that he'd made the deadline.

"I got lucky because someone dropped out and I got the last Help to Buy flat in my development." That was in May this year and the development was St George's Park in Hornchurch, where he is buying a two-bedroom flat for £411,000. Then his luck ran out. "Last week I got a letter saying they were really sorry, but it wouldn't be finished until February." This pushes the project past the Help to Buy build deadline of December 31, 2022, meaning Cook’s new home no longer qualifies for the Help to Buy scheme and he can no longer purchase his flat. It’s going to stop me from buying my first home,’ he says. It’s too late for me to find another Help to Buy development. I’m so upset and haven't been given any answers.”

Cook, who is 28 and works in FinTech, says he had been saving for two years and had started looking in earnest for a property about a year ago. The Help to Buy scheme gave him the extra support he needed to get a foot on the ladder. Under the scheme, first-time buyers in London can purchase 60 per cent of a new-build property, with the Government having an equity share in the remaining 40 per cent. The equity loan is interest-free for the first five years. Cook had his application accepted within a week in May, exchanged in June and then paid 75 per cent of his deposit. Until last week his developers continued to assure him that the work would be completed by the December deadline.

“They’re blaming things out of their control like bricks coming from [mainland] Europe and torrential rain. They were even affected by the Dartford tunnel protests as a crane had to turn back.”