Why the government’s Help to Buy scheme won’t reach the right people

The government’s Help to Buy scheme intends to boost homeownership by reducing the down payment required. Analysis by Robbie de Santos and Toby Lloyd of Shelter, also detailed in a report launched today, shows that overall affordability is a bigger problem than the big deposits required by mortgage lenders. Easy finance into a supply constrained market can only boost up house prices, pushing them further out of reach for the millions of lower and middle income households already frozen out of the housing market.