Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Mark Prisk MP talks about 'FirstBuy'.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet Mark Evans, a first-time buyer who, thanks to the FirstBuy scheme, has been able to buy a two-bedroom flat in Edgbaston in Birmingham

I'm delighted that this popular shared equity scheme is helping Mark and thousands of other aspiring homeowners across the country to take that first step onto the housing ladder. In fact in the first 12 months of the scheme there have already been over 8,000 reservations, offering people a valuable alternative to the Bank of Mum and Dad. You can find more details about FirstBuy here.

Of course, FirstBuy is only one of a number of measures we're taking to help first-time buyers: the NewBuy scheme also offers first-time buyers the chance to buy a newly-built property with just a fraction of the deposit they would normally require.

And these schemes are not just offering a helping hand to first-time buyers - they're also helping to get Britain building. As I saw during my visit to Edgbaston, FirstBuy has not only helped Mark buy his first home, it's also kept workers on site building the homes the local community needs.

That's why as part of a wider package of measures on housing and growth, we announced an extra £280million to extend the scheme into 2014 and helping over 27,000 first-time buyers realise their dreams of home ownership in total.

And today, just a month later, I've confirmed that £40million is already going out the door to 41 developers across the country so work can start straight away. And alongside that I've also opened the bidding process for the remaining £240million to be spent in the next year.

Over the coming months, I want to see how this funding will not only help thousands of people onto the property ladder, but also help deliver the homes and jobs the country needs to kickstart the economy.

A link to the transcript can be found here.