Expect soon to hear the second phase of Help to Buy called the “Marmite’” housing policy. Many economic commentators hate it; ordinary people may not yet love it but they are curious about the scheme — under which the Government will guarantee 15 per cent of the mortgage given to borrowers acquiring a new or old home.
After the announcement last Sunday that the launch of the scheme was to be brought forward, traffic at the Help to Buy section of the Rightmove portal increased fourfold. Interest in relocation usually dips in early October — there is an assumption that it will beimpossible to move in time for Christmas — yet Grenville Turner, the chief executive of Countrywide, which owns 46 estate agency brands, reports