DISTRICT residents have been taking advantage of the Government’s Help to Buy scheme, with figures showing that more than 300 applicants have benefited in East Hampshire.

Figures published for the first four years of Help to Buy reveal that 325 people in the district have used the scheme since it was launched in April 2013. First-time buyers accounted for 81 per cent of sales and housebuilder Barratt Homes, which is developing houses at Bordon’s Louisburg Barracks, said the scheme had been “a real game changer for many people”.

Michelle Storer, sales director at Barratt Homes, said: “East Hampshire has produced some strong results for the Help to Buy scheme and it is great to see such high figures in the area.”

The scheme enables first-time buyers and, in some cases, existing owners to put down five per cent of the purchase price as a deposit for their new home and receive a Government interest-free equity loan providing access to more affordable mortgage rates. Help to Buy allows any homebuyer to secure a new home, under £600,000, with just a five-per-cent deposit. The Government lends the buyer 20 per cent of the value of the property as an interest-free equity loan for five years, meaning that buyers gain access to competitive mortgage rates for a 75-per-cent mortgage.