THE Help to Buy – Wales shared equity scheme will be extended, the news was announced by Lesley Griffiths, Communities and Tackling Poverty Minister.

The £170 million scheme is providing a welcome boost for buyers and builders by making home-ownership easier for people who have struggled to secure large cash deposits.

Help to Buy – Wales has so far enabled 1,200 people in Wales to buy their home and has received the backing of over 160 builders.

Lesley Griffiths said: “Over the past year, Help to Buy - Wales has become an important factor in stimulating the construction of new market housing in Wales through the support it offers to people purchasing those homes.

“In order to build on this success, I am today setting out the Welsh Government’s intention to extend the Help to Buy – Wales scheme beyond 31 March 2016.”

The precise details of the extended scheme will depend on a number of factors, including the outcome of the next UK Government’s Spending Review, which will set the Welsh budget for 2016-17 and beyond.