To think help to buy is just a way of lining the pockets of Building Companies?

[staropramen]

New builds are generally over priced and if sold within the first few years often make a loss. Why does it stipulate they must be new builds?

Yes YANBU

Look at the profits of Taylor Wimpy, Persimmon etc etc

it gave the Persimmon CEO a £100million bonus

www.theguardian.com/business/2017/dec/15/persimmon-chair-resigns-chief-executive-obscene-bonus

from the pockets of the taxpayer to the pockets of the crocodile

www.ft.com/content/c4296b2c-5ae9-11e9-939a-341f5ada9d40?emailId=5cb0e0fa4c27bf00043ac29e&shareType=nongift

note that I didn't use the word "earned"

Yes the house builders have made an absoloute killing from tax payers money, entirely the Governments fault, it has pushed up prices up everywhere else as well as a result. When the help to buy scam finishes in a few years time people will most likely find it hard to sell on for what they have paid for it, also if people do not pay back within 5 years then the interest kicks in at 1.75% plus rising with RPI each year.

Friend bought one. Totally ludicrous price even after the "discounts" they offered which didn't take much to get due to competition from another builder which wasn't doing Help to Buy

Yup, I agree.

And then there are payback clauses! After 5 years the interest goes way up. We have decided not to do it.

Yes, it was always a rubbish idea - so obvious that it was going to boost prices of newbuilds - so often overpriced anyway compared to older properties, which are in any case still too expensive in many areas for many to afford.,

Before it was even introduced I emailed my MP, saying it was only going to inflate prices - he fwded it to the then housing minister - IIRC the ghastly Grant Schapps, who sent a very arrogant reply, saying there was 'no evidence' that it would push prices up.

The way it has inflated the bonuses of building co. CEOs - at the taxpayer's expense! - is truly repellent.

IMO it was introduced as a vote-catcher for the priced-out without being thought through - but isn't that always the way? Short term thinking, whatever will keep them in power.,

New builds don’t always make a loss. Next door sold his last week making a £25,000 profit. It’s 3 years old.

I completely agree. HTB has done nothing other than inflate property prices. Completely inconsistent with its initiative.

Houses are even advertised as 80% of their value as though the 20% is a gift. It’s not. It’s a second charge on the property and is payable the same as a mortgage after the 5 years.

Also don’t think it helps FTB’ers onto the property ladder. Because as above the houses are just inflated.

Complete waste of tax payers money.

We recently sold our H2B house. Bought 5 years ago and sold just as we started to repay interest (we paid once month interest at £40)
I'd never do it again but only because of the pain in the arse jumping through hoops to pay it back

We did get out house for a reduced price due to location and so due to the help to buy our repayments were tiny and so we were able to massively over pay also helpful when I was on mat leave

Overall we sold for a 9k profit after 5 years which I was happy with (again location was truly shocking) but walked away with £35k due to the mortgage over payments

So not a tale of woe in any regards. As I now have my "dream home" but like I said the beurecracy of repaying it on the sale of my house means I'm telling friends and family to tread very carefully

I've just had my h2b new build valued by 3 estate agents
I am 45k up after 2 years. They don't always make a loss.

It's not even up for discussion, it's blatantly obvious to anyone with half a brain that Help to Buy should really have been called Help to Sell.

Oh I wouldn’t say it’s just a way of lining builders pockets,there’s that as well,but I think those that went for it thought they were doing ok,they aren’t going to realise they paid a premium for new build and then some on top for it being htb,until they come to sell and are wondering why they are having difficulty.
The banks,yes they have done well out of it also.
I did read on another forum of a htb person reaching the five years and the interest rate on the loan increasing more than they were first told.
Let’s face it half of these new builds with the htb wouldn’t stand a chance of selling at the inflated price they are asking without htb being talked up as a good thing.Well yes everyone thought endowments were a good thing as well.
Anyway the government ministers that brought these things in at the time will have a change over by the time the shit hits the fan,so why should they worry.

I agree. I think the government introduced it to stop the property market crashing.

Does anyone else think that construction companies have links to organised crime?

Links to...I think they are organised crime groups given how some behave. Add shocking building standards to other things and you have it.

Friend bought one..they now use such quick dry concrete for the floors they had multiple massive cracks across all floors so could not lay flooring. Disgrace and of course now getting them back ........ring ring ring ring.....promises etc..

That’s most likely nothing to do with the material that has been used, what tends to happen is packs of bricks and blocks get loaded directly into the floor during construction, when this weight is removed the floor essentially springs back to the correct position and cracks the floor screed in the process. It’s poor loading out via the bricklayer contractor or the forklift driver on site. By the way I work for one of the major housebuilders, and agree it has helped us to build and sell. However bare in mind most house builders are speculative builders and it’s a business like any other, most of the cost and control comes from the land. Restrictive planning conditions have caused a lot of the issues. If planning was relaxed land would be considerably cheaper and such incentives wouldn’t be needed as you could build your own home etc. A lot of people also need to wake up in respect of rejecting planning, they are essentially causing inflation of prices by trying to restrict supply, it would be far better putting forward ideas on what the development requires, far more proactive and the ideas would be listened to if they have support for the development.

I agree- a ticking time bomb for us all.

Sulee 100% agree re ticking time bomb. People being misled into walking into a trap, especially with onerous ground rents which means it's impossible to sell their homes further down the line, as lenders are refusing to lend on these leases.

I'd like to think it's a ticking time bomb but given government policy now seems to be to prop up the housing market and protect home owners at ALL costs whilst simultaneously encouraging and bailing out the feckless and irresponsible over leveraged debt junkies... I suspect there will be some form of forgiveness or forbearance for the poor innocents who were ''missold'' HTB loans.

Everyone was saying IO mortgages were a ''ticking time bomb'' but look how that's fizzled out due to the forbearance being shown to the greedy morons who took out IO mortgages with no plan in place to pay them off.

True, but the alternative would have been thousands of extra people living on the streets, as may be the case with HTB ultimately. The whole housing policy needs addressing urgently, including the Dickensian private rental market.