The government’s Mortgage Guarantee Scheme, which ended in June this year, supported more than 56,000 mortgage completions across the UK, according to official figures.

Launched in April 2021 to help buyers with small deposits, the scheme offered lenders the option to purchase a guarantee on loans where borrowers had less than 10% to put down. In total, it accounted for 1.4% of all residential mortgage completions between April 2021 and March 2025.

Across its lifetime, the scheme underpinned £11.5bn in lending, backed by £1.7bn of government guarantees, financing properties worth £12.2bn. The average property purchased under the initiative was worth £215,467 – well below the UK average of £271,000 – with the median value standing at £190,000.

The data show that the scheme was most heavily used for lower-value homes, with 70% of transactions on properties priced below £250,000. Terraced houses accounted for 35% of purchases, followed by semi-detached homes at 30% and flats at 22%.

It was primarily a first-time buyer product, with 86% of completions falling into this category. Borrowers typically had modest incomes: 42% of households using the scheme earned less than £50,000 a year, while the median household income stood at £53,711.

Take-up was uneven across the UK. Scotland saw a disproportionately high level of use, with 21% of completions despite representing just 8% of the UK mortgage market. England accounted for 71% of completions, well below its 85% share of the wider market. Wales and Northern Ireland recorded figures broadly in line with their overall market share at 5% and 3% respectively.

Within England, the North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, and the Midlands all recorded significant volumes of completions, reflecting lower property values relative to the South. In London, where the mean property value under the scheme was £402,140, completions were relatively low at 2,765.

The scheme was closed to new applications on 30 June 2025, having been introduced to support the housing market during a period of constrained mortgage availability and to keep credit flowing for buyers with small deposits.

Holly Tomlinson, financial planner at Quilter, said: “The latest Mortgage Guarantee Scheme statistics show the lacklustre impact the scheme has had so far, and just how ineffective the Government’s permanent version of the scheme is likely to be.

“Since its launch in April 2021, the scheme has supported a total of 56,389 mortgages, 86% of which were by first time buyers. Mortgage completions supported by the scheme have been tailing off since it first launched, and while there seemed to have been a slight uptick in previous quarters which may have been driven by more people trying to push through completions ahead of the changes to stamp duty, the take up has still been relatively low.

“What’s more, the average property value under the scheme was £215,467, significantly below the national average house price of £271,000, which raises questions about the schemes ability to cater to those in more expensive parts of the country.

“While the government’s decision to make the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme permanent may help at the margin, it does not create homes or meaningfully lower borrowing costs. Without more supply and a clearer path on rates and taxation, the housing market could face a winter of discontent that drags into next year with even more people shut out.

“This is before you consider the other rumours circulating as we near the Chancellor’s budget which would risk further gluing up the market. One such rumour focuses on replacing stamp duty with a proportional property tax. While this would recognise that the current system is deeply flawed, there is a danger of creating new problems. Stamp duty has long deterred older homeowners from downsizing, and any new tax must avoid further locking up family homes at a time of acute shortage.

“Similarly, a levy on sales above £500,000 might sound like a tax on wealth, but in many regions it would capture ordinary homes. Crucially, the housing market is a ladder, with every sale interlinked. If transactions higher up the chain are taxed heavily, it risks grinding the whole system to a halt, compounding the difficulties first-time buyers already face.”