Quarter of all Help to Buy deals are struck in South-East and London

 
Vince Cable: Juncker row 'has not been good for David Cameron'
4 January 2014
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Business Secretary Vince Cable today warned against “a recovery based on property inflation” as it emerged that a quarter of Help to Buy deals are being struck in the property hotspots of London and the South-East.

His warning came as David Cameron trumpeted a huge rise in the number of housebuyers getting help with deposits through the flagship scheme launched in October.

Mr Cameron promoted the scheme by travelling to Southampton to meet some of the 750 people who have so far bought properties with help. He also issued figures showing that the number of deals going through has trebled to 6,000 since November, signalling a £1 billion boost to the market.

However, the No 10 data showed one in four purchases is taking place in London and the South-East, where prices are already soaring by almost 10 per cent a year and where economists claim there is a real danger of a property bubble.

Mr Cable said he was “surprised” that such a high proportion was in London — and said help should be targeted at areas where the property market was flat. “Help to Buy is a good idea if prices are collapsing and development is stalled,” said the Cabinet minister. “I’m sure it has a very useful role to play in Northern Ireland and parts of the North of England. That’s the context in which it could be economically beneficial.”

Mr Cable added: “What I want to see in the New Year is a real economic recovery based on British industry and exports of goods and services, not an artificial and temporary recovery based on property inflation.”

Mr Cameron said: “Too many people have found themselves frozen out of the market in recent years as a result of the size of the deposit required.

“In less than three months, the scheme has already helped thousands of people. I want to see that continue in 2014 and for Help to Buy to help thousands more realise their dream of home ownership.”

Downing Street said the average home being bought was worth £160,000, which suggested that first-time buyers were the main beneficiaries in London. The average UK house price is £247,000.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in