Government calls time on Help to Buy mortgage scheme

Philip Hammond has confirmed the Government is closing its Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme in the latest of George Osborne's flagship policies to be abandoned by the new administration.
In a letter to Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, the Chancellor said the scheme was "introduced with a specific purpose that has now been successfully achieved" and it will close at the end of the year.
The Government stressed the scheme was always due to finish at the end of 2016.
Launched in the autumn of 2013, it was described by the then government as a "landmark" scheme... read more