More proof the Help to Buy Isa is pointless for first-time buyers in London?
The Help to Buy Isa is the government's latest wizard wheeze to help first-time buyers onto the property ladder: under the scheme, they receive a £50 government "bonus" for every £200 they spend.
But the launch of the scheme, at the beginning of this month, hasn't gone down quite as well as you might expect.
Now a new study has suggested the scheme is all but pointless to Londoners.
The scheme allows savers to put £200 per month away in a Help to Buy Isa – meaning it will take five years to save the £12,000 eligible for the maximum government bonus of £3,000.
Totallymoney.com has found while the scheme could offer a helping hand to those living in in the Midlands and the North, for those in the South, it's a different story.
"Single buyers using the Help to buy Isa will be unable to purchase anything from Cambrdigeshire to Dorset in five years' time," it suggests.
"The only properties under £450,000 [the maximum value of a home those using the scheme are allowed to buy] are set to be on the outskirts – Redbridge, in Zone four, and others all in Zone five and six.
"Only 10 of London's 32 boroughs will be affordable for single first-time buyers," it added.
They've even put together a natty graphic showing where in the capital Help to Buy-ers will be able to afford. If you've joined the scheme, look away now…
