Taylor Wimpey celebrates NewBuy milestone

Just eleven weeks after it was launched by housing minister Grant Shapps, national housebuilder Taylor Wimpey has announced that it has now achieved more than 100 new homes sales nationally with the NewBuy assistance scheme. NewBuy is the latest government initiative to kick-start the housing market, providing creditworthy buyers of new-build property with access to mortgages that require a deposit of as little as 5% of the property price.

Kevin Belsham, national sales and marketing director for Taylor Wimpey says: "We're delighted by our early success with the NewBuy scheme, which helps both first-time buyers and home movers who do not have access to a large deposit to get on or move up the property ladder. However, with some househunters thinking NewBuy is only available to first-time buyers we are working on raising awareness of the scheme to all househunters, so that as an industry, we deliver the tens of thousands of sales anticipated over the next three years. With more mortgage lenders now starting to offer products under NewBuy, we hope that competitive mortgage rates will build on the scheme's early success."

NewBuy is only available in England, but with a top limit of £500,000 to properties available under NewBuy, it means that there are thousands of plots and property types to choose from with the scheme at developments across the country.

Taylor Wimpey is one of eleven housebuilders now signed up to NewBuy, and its figures are another encouraging sign that NewBuy is starting to take effect with house buyers. Just two weeks ago, the Daily Telegraph reported that a survey conducted on its behalf suggested just five homes had been purchased with NewBuy at that time. There had also been public and industry criticism about the lack of choice in mortgages available with NewBuy, as only five lenders have signed up to the scheme to date.

Only a few days after the Telegraph report, Stewart Baseley of the Home Builders Federation announced that some 400 reservations had actually been made with the scheme to date. On 29th May, it was announced that Miller Homes was joining the scheme, bringing a further 50 developments on board for homebuyers to choose from.

David Ritchie, chief executive of another participating housebuilder, Bovis Homes, says: "More lenders are coming on board to support NewBuy, which is excellent news and this should provide a competitive environment where customers get access to the most attractive rates possible. Bovis Homes has been at the forefront in developing low-deposit homebuying solutions with lenders and we will be looking to bring this experience to bear as NewBuy evolves and ‘beds in' in the mortgage marketplace."