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16 April 2020

A comment from Patrick Bamford, Business Development Director at AmTrust Mortgage & Credit, in response to the news today that the Government is discussing a potential extension to the Help to Buy Scheme:

“It is perhaps not surprising given the current situation and the fact the Help to Buy Scheme is already in place that Government officials are eyeing up an extension. However, this will require further taxpayer support at a time when the nation's finances will already have taken a significant hit in order to, quite rightly, help individuals and businesses through this period. In those circumstances, it might be far more prudent for the Government to utilise a viable private alternative to Help to Buy which currently exists, can be actively utilised by lenders and would mean no further calls upon the taxpayer to subsidise the purchase of these new-build homes. At some point in the future, the industry has to fend for itself. If the Government does wish to extend, then there are very good reasons why the builders and developers concerned should take on a far greater percentage of the risk than they currently do, and that this should not be put purely on the UK taxpayer.”