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Almost 53,000 households have bought a home in England through the government’s flagship Help to Buy scheme, according to the latest figures to be released. The figures show how the scheme is getting more homes built in England, with over 37,600 households buying new build homes through the equity loan and NewBuy options, and a further 15,000 though the mortgage guarantee. A further 3,500 new home owners have also been created in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland through the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme, said Housing and Planning Minister Brandon Lewis. Almost 80% of sales have gone to first time buyers, with nearly 70% being for new build homes. The direct result is a new generation of homeowners and the sharpest increase in private house building starts for 40 years. Lewis said the figures were further evidence that hard working families were voting with their feet, and Help to Buy was expanding and accelerating the supply of new homes. House building has climbed to the highest level since 2007, the construction sector has grown for 16 consecutive months, and companies are now taking on new workers at the fastest rate since 1997. He pointed out that the government has also expanded the range of available data about Help to Buy. Sales are now broken down by postcode and constituency so communities, builders and businesses can see exactly how the scheme is benefiting their local area. ‘Almost 53,000 households have now benefited through Help to Buy in England. Hard working families are getting the right support to step onto the housing ladder, and house building has climbed to its highest level since 2007,’ said Lewis. ‘Postcode data for each constituency is now available, so local communities can see exactly how this vital part of our long-term economic plan is fixing the broken housing market we inherited in 2010, and supporting their area,’ he added. Overall, sales of new build homes have been strong across the country. The highest number of equity loan sales were in Wiltshire with 557, Leeds with 539 and Central Bedfordshire with 504. Peterborough, Milton Keynes, Bedford, County Durham, Birmingham, Bradford, Manchester, Kingston-upon-Hull, Aylesb Taylor Scott International
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