The Help to Buy scheme which has helped 100,000 first time buyers purchase their homes, closes tomorrow. It was designed to assist buyers take out mortgages with only small deposits, which had been difficult to secure since the financial crisis of 2007/8. The government underwrote small deposit lending, thus removing risk from banks and building societies. The scheme increased by six times the number of loans available to those with only a 5% deposit and was regarded as a success although some criticised it for inflating house prices.
