George Osborne's Help to Buy schemes, launched in 2013, delivered the greatest financial benefit to higher-income households and had little effect on social mobility, according to a new Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) analysis published on 15 April 2026.

What the IFS Analysis Found

The IFS research, co-authored by Bee Boileau, a research economist at the thinktank, examined the two separate schemes introduced under the Help to Buy umbrella (Guardian, 15 April 2026).

The first was a taxpayer-backed loan scheme to reduce the deposit buyers needed. This applied only to new-build properties. The second was a mortgage guarantee scheme, under which the Government covered part of lenders' potential losses on high loan-to-value (LTV - the proportion of a property's value covered by the mortgage) mortgages. Both schemes applied to homes worth up to £600,000. By 2014-15, they supported roughly one in five first-time buyer purchases in England.

Boileau's conclusion was pointed: "Our research indicates that the Help to Buy schemes introduced in 2013 had the largest impact - in terms of making more homes affordable - on higher-income households." Specifically, higher earners living outside London and the South East, where property was cheaper. Those buyers, the IFS suggests, would largely have been able to save for a deposit within a few years regardless. Help to Buy brought their purchase forward by a couple of years rather than making homeownership possible where it otherwise would not have been.

The mortgage guarantee element underperformed expectations. The IFS found it had "limited effects on affordability" because buyers were still constrained by the maximum income multiple lenders would allow. A government guarantee on the lender's downside does not increase what you can borrow. The loan scheme was "more important for almost all households" in improving local property affordability, but its new-build restriction significantly limited its scope.

The Tax Implication for Investors

The IFS finding matters for property investors because Help to Buy inflated demand for new-build stock during the 2013-2023 period. If you acquired new-build properties in that window - or if you are assessing comparable new-build valuations now - it is worth understanding how much of the purchase price reflected scheme-driven demand rather than organic market pricing.

For anyone holding or disposing of Help to Buy-linked new-build stock, the tax picture requires careful attention. The House of Lords built environment committee said in 2022 that the money spent on Help to Buy "would be better spent on increasing housing supply" - a judgement that aligns with the IFS finding that the schemes added cost without proportionate social benefit. Speak to your accountant before making disposal or refinancing decisions on new-build properties purchased during the Help to Buy era.

What Remains in Place

The equity loan scheme closed in March 2023 in England. But the mortgage guarantee scheme was reintroduced in 2021 and made permanent by the Labour Government in 2025 (Guardian, 15 April 2026), keeping 95% LTV mortgages available for buyers with a 5% deposit.

That continuation matters for investors buying near first-time buyer price points. A functioning 95% mortgage market keeps a pool of buyers active at the lower end of the market. The IFS found the guarantee scheme had "limited effects on affordability" in isolation, but it sustains buyer numbers in that segment - which supports demand and, by extension, valuations.

James Cleverly, the Conservative housing secretary, defended the original schemes: "The previous Conservative government's Help to Buy schemes gave many thousands of people the chance to realise the dream of homeownership" (Guardian, 15 April 2026). The IFS does not dispute that the schemes accelerated homeownership for some. It questions whether those were the households that most needed taxpayer support to get there.

The number to keep in mind: one in five first-time buyer purchases in England at the 2014-15 peak. That level of scheme-driven demand leaves a valuation legacy in new-build stock. Speak to your accountant.