Oxford's house prices blamed for lack of Help to Buy scheme sales in the city

New figures show not a single house was bought using the scheme in the city, despite almost 1,000 first-time buyers using it in the rest of the county.
The difference was blamed on the widening gap between house prices and wages in the city.

Have you tried to use the Help to Buy scheme? Get in touch 

Ed Turner, deputy leader of Oxford City Council, warned prices were “running away” from people on middle and lower incomes.

He claimed other schemes like starter homes – which can be bought with a 20 per cent discount – were also no good to buyers in Oxford and called on the Government to take a more “pragmatic” approach to help people.

Mr Turner added: “These figures don’t surprise me. The truth is house prices in Oxford are running away from what is affordable for people on middle incomes, let alone those on lower incomes.

“What we need is more genuinely affordable housing through rent, social rent and shared ownership schemes. Plugging away with models like help to buy and starter homes just does not work because they are out of the range of most families.

“We hope the Government will be pragmatic and recognise that, while these sorts of measures are appropriate in some areas, here they simply do not help our housing market in reality.”

The Government’s help to buy scheme allows people to take out a mortgage of no more than 4.5 times their income, paying a five per cent deposit.

In Oxford, the average yearly income is about £26,500. This means two people both on an average wage would be able to get a mortgage of £238,500 maximum.

A recent house prices study in June revealed the average cost of a property in the city recently rose above £400,000.

According to the Homes and Communities Agency, 1,266 buyers in Oxfordshire have used the help to buy scheme since it launched in April 2013.

Of these, 978 were first time buyers but none used the scheme in Oxford. 
Wadham College graduate Laura Martin, 22, said she had been looking for a home with her partner in the past few months but they had decided to rent rather than buy.

The East Oxford resident added: “It is very, very difficult to get on the housing ladder in Oxford if you are a first-time buyer unless you happen to have £20,000 in your back pocket. Most people just don’t have that kind of money.”

The highest number of first-time buyers within the county who used the scheme, 378, lived in South Oxfordshire with another 340 from Cherwell.

Will Madgwick and girlfriend Lucy Smith said they had moved home to Wantage after being unable to find anything in their price range in Oxford.

The couple are saving through the Government’s alternative help to buy ISA scheme and say they will look for a home outside of Oxford. The saving scheme lets them put up to £200 into an ISA account every month and receive a £50 bonus.

The bonuses can reach a total of £3,000 and be used to buy a house worth up to £250,000.

Mr Madgwick, 26, added: “Everything has been out of our price range so we are trying to get the money together for a deposit.

“We have now been at home for a year and are saving up but have still not got enough.

“Obviously we are getting there, but if we were renting and trying to save at the same time we would stand no chance.”

Father-of-two Jason Morris, who now owns a four-bedroom home in Adderbury Fields, in Adderbury, near Banbury, also used help to buy through David Wilson Homes.

He said: “I had previously bought properties that needed upgrading or developing and had never really contemplated a new house.

“But this has been a perfect choice for me and the staff were really supportive throughout the whole process.”

The Department for Communities and Local Government was asked to comment but failed to respond in time.