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Help to Buy
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<p>Help to Buy is a government programme in the <a href="/facts/United_Kingdom/kuPAILt2">United Kingdom</a> that aims to help first time buyers, and those looking to move home, purchase residential property. It was announced in Chancellor of the Exchequer <a href="/facts/George_Osborne/Cyy8R9He">George Osborne</a>'s 2013 budget speech, and was described as "the biggest government intervention in the housing market since the <a href="/facts/Right_to_Buy/bs0lxJtg">Right to Buy</a> scheme" of the 1980s. It is an extension of a previous programme called FirstBuy that was aimed solely at first-time buyers. Help to Buy has itself been expanded and extended. </p><p>According to a 2024 study, the programme led to an increase in housing prices without any impact on housing construction in severely supply constrained and unaffordable Greater London. </p>