+ $150k to help buy a house?
“+ $150k to help buy a house?”
It comes from England.
WIKI
Help to Buy: Equity Loans: Buyers contribute a 5% deposit, the government provides an equity loan for up to 20% of the property value (40% within London), and buyers must provide the remaining funds themselves, typically from a mortgage. Available only for new-build under a certain amount (e.g. less than £600,000 in England, £300,000 in Wales); the loan is interest-free for the first five years. This is the most high-profile of the schemes, and is often referred to simply as “Help to Buy”. Also known as “phase one” of Help to Buy. Help To Buy was available in Scotland but has stopped accepting new applications as of 5th February 2021. The Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme was closed to new applicants on 31 October 2022.
The most controversial component of Help to Buy is the mortgage guarantee scheme, described by the chief economist at the Institute of Directors as “very dangerous”. Explaining that the UK needed “help to supply, not help to buy”, he noted that
Government guarantees will not increase the supply of homes, but they will drive up prices at a time when it seems likely that house prices are already over-valued. When the scheme is withdrawn any rise in prices that has taken place will be undermined, with potentially disastrous results. There is a real risk that the housing market will become dependent on the underwriting by government, making it very difficult politically to shut the scheme down. This should be of great concern. The world must have gone mad for us to now be discussing endless taxpayer guarantees for mortgages. Instead of trying to pump-up prices, the Government should focus on relaxing planning laws and reducing Local Authority charges on developers to make it easier to build more homes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help_to_Buy