MPs critical of Help to Buy

The Government has yet to demonstrate that its Help to Buy mortgage guarantee policy is providing value for money, an influential committee of MPs has found. The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee warned that the scheme has created a "medium and long-term risk" to the taxpayer in the form of a £10bn portfolio of loans which will impose a "heavy administrative burden" for years to come. In a new report, the spending watchdog said the scheme was introduced smoothly and quickly and helped 13,000 homebuyers within nine months. But it noted that Eric Pickles’ Department for Communities and Local Government violated Treasury guidelines by failing to carry out any assessment of alternative options before going ahead with the scheme.