The average age of those who benefited from a government scheme designed to support first-time buyers was 38 years old, the Housing Minister has revealed.
Deputy Sam Mézec provided an update on the performance of the First Step assisted-purchase initiative, which is delivered in partnership with Andium Homes, since it was introduced two years ago.
Backed by £10 million of government funding, it has helped eligible first-time buyers access a contribution of up to 40% towards the purchase of an open-market property.
The figures at a glance…
During a hearing with the Environment, Housing and Infrastructure Scrutiny Panel yesterday, Deputy Mézec provided an update on the scheme’s performance.
“Tranche four gave out 11 loans – that takes us to 65 in total across the four tranches,” he said.
“The average bond that was issued was 36.73%, ranging from 24% to the full 40%,” he continued.
He also noted that the average bond was £129,000 and the average age of those benefiting from the scheme was 38 years old.
Deputy Mézec said that the youngest beneficiary was 27 and the oldest was 52 years old.
The most accepted property type was three-bedroom homes.
The Housing Minister said that the scheme “has been successful”.
“It has clearly been popular and has had good feedback from those who I’ve spoken to who benefited from it.”
Deputy Mézec added that if further funding was secured, the scheme would continue to “do good work” but that there would also be “things that we’ll want to do”, such as examining the applications that were rejected.
“If there’s a pattern in that, again, it’s similar to the social housing gateway. If everybody who was rejected is just a few £1000 pounds over the income thresholds, maybe that’s something to look at,” he continued.
“So looking at those whose applications were rejected and seeing if there’s any common themes can help us there, and feedback from those who took part in it, if there were things that have been administered better, if there were gaps in it.”