U.K.'s Help-to-Buy Program Extended

---

Britain's government has extended the Help-to-Buy program for new homes until 2020.

Chancellor George Osborne announced the program will run for the rest of the decade to help finance the construction of 120,000 homes.

"The decision to extend the Help to Buy equity loan will be welcomed by house builders," Grainne Gilmore, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, said in a statement. "The extended time frame of the scheme will aid the progression of larger and longer-term development schemes - crucial in helping boost house building to levels that the government wants to achieve."

So far the program, which allows first-time home buyers to purchase a home with as little as five percent down, has been evenly spread across the country.

"The question now is whether the Chancellor will adjust the parameters or the £12.5 billion set aside for Help to Buy part 2, the mortgage guarantee, to cover the additional £6 billion cost of this four-year extension to the equity loan," Gilmore added.

According to the latest figures, approximately 15,000 properties have been purchased using the Government's Equity Loan since April last year.

In January, about 2,000 mortgages were agreed across England using the program, a slight decline compared to the last quarter of 2013 when about 7,500 mortgages were agreed, an average of 2,500 per month, Knight Frank reports.

The latest announcement precedes the annual budget speech on Wednesday.