Help to Buy scheme boosts demand for Persimmon homes Persimmon, the York-based housebuilder, said sales had increased 30 per cent since the government's Help to Buy scheme was launched in April, providing further evidence that the initiative is lifting demand in the north of England as well as the more resilient southeast. The FTSE 100 company said it had sold 1,124 homes since Help to Buy was launched. More than half were in Yorkshire, the northwest and the Midlands, where affordability is key. The scheme enables buyers with a 5 per cent deposit to buy one of its £120,000 homes for under £100 a week. "It's certainly helping the sales rate; the key thing is it's generating interest and creating more confidence, especially in some areas in the north where pricing may be more sensitive," said Jeff Fairburn, chief executive. It's demonstrating the affordability because the properties are cheaper to buy than many people assume. Help to Buy was introduced by George Osborne, the chancellor, with the aim of stimulating the construction industry and the economy. But critics ranging from the IMF to the Office for Budget Responsibility, the UK's fiscal watchdog, have warned that it will push up prices rather than encourage housebuilders to build homes. Paul Tucker, the Bank of England deputy governor, warned on Tuesday that Help to Buy should be a short-term measure. "This country has had an active housing market without a government subsidy,"" he told the Treasury select committee. I'm absolutely sure that that structure helped brew the bubble that blew up the world in 2007 and 2008. This is not a market that needs a permanent subsidy. Under Help to Buy, the government lends buyers up to 20 per cent of the value of a new-build home priced below £600,000, interest-free for five years. According to the Home Builders Federation, the scheme has been used to reserve 4,000 properties in the first two months. Mr Fairburn dismissed fears that it would cause a house price bubble. He said lenders were being disciplined and this would mitigate any risk posed by the scheme. He added that construction had picked up, enabling the company to employ around 100 apprentices this year. Housebuilders including Persimmon had already benefited from schemes to boost mortgage availability, including the government's Funding for Lending Scheme. The housebuilder, the UK's biggest by market value, said first-half revenues climbed 12 per cent from £806.7m a year earlier to £900m. The company completed 5,022 new homes in the first half of the current year, up 7 per cent on the same time in 2012. The average selling price also rose 5 per cent to £179,200. Jon Bell, analyst at Shore Capital, said the trading update "provides clear evidence that the government's Help to Buy scheme has had a material and immediate positive effect. As a regional player, the company is likely to be one of the leading beneficiaries of government initiatives. Shares in Persimmon, which have gained 64 per cent this year, were down 1 per cent at 1,228p in late trading.