Tens of thousands of people have taken their first steps onto the property ladder thanks to government-backed schemes, new figures show.

Housing Minister Mark Prisk welcomed the latest data, which he said, "clearly show the housing market is moving again".

Overall, the number of new homeowners created by government-backed schemes is over 25,000 to date – with more in the pipeline.

This includes:

• 3,749 people helped to buy newly-built homes through the industry-led NewBuy scheme since its launch in March 2012

• NewBuy has been complemented by the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme, which in its first 4 months has seen over 3,000 sales and 10,000 reservations

• more than 8,000 council tenants helped into home ownership through the reinvigorated Right to Buy scheme


• 10,633 people helped into home ownership through the former FirstBuy scheme

And with these schemes set to sit alongside the Help to Buy: Mortgage Guarantee when it comes into force in January, and over 20,000 new homes built specifically for shared ownership schemes since 2010, even more hard-working people are set to benefit from government help to become homeowners.

These schemes combined are also helping to get Britain building, with major house builders confirming they will build more homes as a direct result of this increased demand, and Right to Buy receipts from additional sales being recycled back into the development of new affordable homes for rent.

Already, the latest house building figures show there were 29,510 new homes started between April and June this year – a third higher than the same period in 2012.

Mr Prisk said: "The housing market is clearly moving again, with nearly 26,000 hard-working people helped to achieve their dreams of home ownership through the range of government-backed schemes on offer.

"That includes the industry-led NewBuy scheme, which today’s figures show has helped 3,749 people buy with a fraction of the deposit they would normally require, complemented by the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme which has already attracted over 10,000 reservations in just 4 months."

(CD/MH)