MALVEN Hills District which includes Tenbury and the Teme Valley came bottom of a table of Worcestershire Councils when it came to taking advantage of a scheme to help people buy a home.

This is according to house builder David Wilson Homes.

New figures released by the Homes and Communities Agency reveal that a total of 1,777 homebuyers in Worcestershire used the Help to Buy scheme since it was launched four years ago.

Within the county the districts which made the best use of the scheme were Wychavon (619), Worcester (394) and Bromsgrove (261). Nearly three quarters of those using the scheme have been first time buyers, with 1,249 homes being bought by ‘first timers’ in Worcestershire using Help to Buy.

But in Malvern Hills District the figure is just 129, of which, 83 were first time buyers.

It enables anyone, both first time buyers and existing owners, to put down just five per cent as a deposit for their new home and to take advantage of a government equity loan providing access to more affordable mortgage rates.

“Worcestershire has produced some strong results for the Help to Buy scheme and it is great to see some districts achieving such high figures for the scheme in the county,” said Steve Barton, Senior Sales Manager for David Wilson Homes Mercia.

Tenbury has seen significant new house building.