Communities and Local Government: First Time Buyers

Paul Uppal: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps his Department is taking to ensure that providing first time property buyers with a partial mortgage guarantee does not reduce access to the housing market for existing property owners.

Grant Shapps (Minister of State (Housing and Local Government), Communities and Local Government): My Department is supporting the industry-led new build mortgage indemnity scheme. The scheme will apply to new build properties from participating builders and will be available to all potential buyers, subject to appropriate underwriting and selection criteria. This will include existing property owners who want to move house and buy a new build property.

Approximately 14% of transactions in England in 2010 were for new build properties. The scheme is intended to help builders to build more new homes, and support people to buy them.

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