The UK’s Help to Buy scheme failed to deliver on its promise of widening homeownership to lower-income buyers, according to a new report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies. The flagship policy disproportionately benefited higher earners in cheap areas, who would have been able to save for a deposit anyway. The scheme probably "accelerated their first home purchase by a few years rather than making the difference between becoming a homeowner or not in the longer term."

Help to Buy, launched in 2013 by then-Chancellor George Osborne, offered state-backed equity loans and a mortgage guarantee to reduce deposit requirements. However, the IFS found that during the 2010s homebuyers were mainly constrained by income, not deposit size. A buyer earning £30,000 with a £10,000 deposit could only afford a £145,000 property even with the mortgage guarantee. Reducing deposits does not allow lower-income borrowers to access larger mortgages.

The equity loan scheme closed in March 2023, while the mortgage guarantee was made permanent in 2025. A 2022 House of Lords report found the scheme’s £29bn cost failed to provide good value for money. Research economist Bee Boileau noted that London and the South East saw the largest affordability gains under the scheme.