Given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the success of the British government’s vaccination scheme, it’s not entirely surprising that the Holyrood administration’s decision to scrap the Help to Buy Affordable New Build scheme has largely slipped under the radar. But this is a highly significant decision by Nicola Sturgeon and her SNP team that will have a devastating effect on the aspirations of young Scots.
As the Financial Times reported it would on 29th January, the scheme closed to all new applicants on the 5th February, cutting off a crucial route to house ownership for the post-COVID generation. When it operated, the scheme supported buyers with interest-free loans worth up to 15% of the price of a newly-built home, with a maximum price of the home at £200,000.
The Buy Affordable New Build scheme and the First Homes Fund have been used by 17,500 households since 2013 and have helped thousands of young people put down roots in their communities and get stated on the career ladder.
But now the SNP have scrapped the scheme and have also slashed the money available for the First Home Fund, saying that cuts to funding had ‘resulted in some difficult choices’. But this is despite a £2.4bn uplift for everyday Scottish government funding from London through the Barnett formula in the last year.
