One MP has been slammed for using the Help to Buy scheme, taking advantage of the tax-payer backed loan to purchase a property he arguably shouldn’t have been allowed to.
Peter Boone, who earns £74,000 as an MP, and his wife have reportedly made use of the scheme, which was introduced to help those who can’t afford to get onto the property ladder, to purchase a home in Wellingborough, Mr Boone’s constituency.
Mrs Boone herself earns a reported £45,000 per year, employed as Boone’s executive secretary. The couple used a £35,000 loan from the government to help them buy the new build property, according to the Mirror.
The home in question is worth £175,000, and use of the scheme meant that the couple would have only needed to pay as little as a 5 per cent deposit on the home up front.
However, it is very important to note that legally, there is nothing to suggest that the Boones have done anything wrong by using the scheme.
It comes down to a question of morality, and whether someone earning that much money should be able to use the scheme.
Many, many young people across the country are trapped as part of ‘generation rent‘ stuck either paying through the nose for rent which prevents them from saving up a deposit, or being stranded living in their parents’ homes until a despairingly old age.
Labour MP John Mann said of the purchase of the Tory Boone: “Help to Buy is meant to be for young people seeking a first home, not for ageing Members of Parliament.”
The government aided purchase is a bit of a slap in the face to those who are desperately seeking to become homeowners, but aren’t lucky enough to be one of the 200,000 people that the Help to Buy schemes have managed to aid so far.
