On Thursday, Richard raised the administration of the Help to Buy scheme during Business Questions to the Leader of the House. Recent changes in the administration have been communicated very poorly and have caused a great deal of anxiety and distress to a number of Richard's constituents. The full exchange can be watched at https://youtu.be/fYO3XSbruYU.
Explaining the problem, Richard Fuller MP said:
Five years ago, the Government agency, Homes England, contracted out the administration of their Help to Buy (HTB) scheme to Target HCA. This 5-year contract came to an end in mid-June 2023 and the new contract was secured by Lenvi.
People have purchased properties with the help of the Help to Buy scheme using Target as the administrator and are now trying to re-mortgage, however Target have not communicated to stakeholders that they are no longer administering the scheme other than a statement on their website. Furthermore, people are unable to reach anyone for assistance using the contact details they have provided on their website.
Remortgaging can often be a highly time-sensitive process, so the lack of information for customers, coupled with the absence of any guidance is extremely worrying and needs to be resolved urgently.
I was pleased that the Leader of the House recognised this seriousness and urgency of this issue and vowed to ensure the Secretary of State was fully briefed ahead of further questions on Monday.
