Official Statistics

Forces Help to Buy Quarterly Statistics - Quarter 4 2023/24

Updated 16 May 2024

This quarterly statistical release provides summary statistics on applications, payments and purchases made under the Forces Help to Buy (FHTB) scheme.

The scheme, which became an enduring policy on 1 January 2023, enables service personnel to borrow up to 50% of their salary, up to a maximum of £25,000 interest free towards the purchase of a property.

Main Points and Trends

Since the Scheme began in April 2014:

• 72,579 First Stage FHTB applications have been received.
• 35,098 of these applications have proceeded to the Second Stage.
• Payment has been made to around 30,540 applicants, totalling over £472 million, an average of approximately £15,471 per claim.
• At least 95% of payments, as at 31 March 2024, have already resulted in a purchased property or extension.

Figure 1: FHTB Payments – Q1 2018/19 to Q4 2023/24

Source: DBS

Figure 1 is a bar chart showing the number of FHTB payments made each financial quarter between April 2018 to March 2024 and the quarterly average for each financial year. The data for this chart is available in table 2a of the supplementary tables.

In Q4 (1 Jan to 31 March 2024) 2023/24:

• 1,009 First Stage applications were received.
• 638 Second Stage applications were received.
• 340 payments were made to Service personnel.

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Please refer to the Supplementary tables for all data presented in this publication.

Introduction

The FHTB scheme was launched in April 2014, the aim of this scheme is to address the low rate of home ownership within the armed forces, as well as meeting the aims of the Defence Accommodation Strategy in recognising the positive impact owning a home can have during an inherently mobile career. On the 19 December 2022 it was announced that from the 1 January 2023 the Forces Help to Buy Scheme would become an enduring policy.

The scheme enables Service Personnel to borrow up to 50% of their salary, up to a maximum of £25,000, interest free towards the purchase of a property. More information about the scheme including eligibility and how to apply can be found at Forces Help to Buy guidance.

Questions about home ownership and the FHTB scheme are included in the Armed Forces continuous attitude survey.

First stage applications are those which pass initial eligibility checks, and second stage applications are those which pass detailed eligibility checks. The number of applications fluctuates from month to month and year to year based on the current market, current climate and is very much customer driven.

First and second stage application data and the values of FHTB payments are provided by Defence Business Services (DBS). The service and rank breakdowns are provided from Joint Personnel Administration (JPA). The two sets of data are ‘as at’ different dates in a month. DBS data is as at the end of the preceding month and JPA data is produced according to when the last pay run for military personnel was completed. The pay run occurs in the middle of the month and varies according to the month length.

Data on the proportion of payments that result in purchases of properties or extensions under the scheme are provided by Defence Business Services (DBS) on a quarterly basis. Some FHTB payments do not result in the purchase of a property or the extension of an existing property due, for example, to changes in personal circumstances or to the withdrawal of a party from a property chain.

Applications

Figure 2: FHTB First Stage Applications – Q1 2018/19 to Q4 2023/24

Source: DBS

Figure 2 is a bar chart showing the number of first stage applications made between April 2018 and March 2024 with a line representing the quarterly average of first stage applications for each financial year. Q3 2018 and 2019 are labelled as points where an extension of the scheme was announced.

There were 1,009 first stage applications in Q4 2023/24, a 19% decrease in applications compared to the same time period last year Q4 2022/23 (1,245). The data for figure 2 is available in table 1 below and table 1a of the supplementary tables.

Table 1: Quarterly average number of First Stage applications by financial year.

Financial year	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21	2021/22	2022/23	2023/24
Quarterly average of first stage applications	1,923	2,210	2,534	1,749	1,277	984

The quarterly average of first stage applications for the financial year 2023/24 has decreased 23% since 2022/23 and is the lowest quarterly average recorded since the scheme started. The stamp duty holiday introduced in Q2 2020/21 (July 2020) ended in Q1 2021/22 in Scotland and Wales and in Q2 in England and Northern Ireland.

Figure 3: FHTB Second Stage Applications – Q1 2018/19 to Q4 2023/24

Source: DBS

Figure 3 is a bar chart showing the number of second stage applications made between April 2018 and March 2024 with a line representing the quarterly average of second stage applications for each financial year. Q3 2018 and 2019 are labelled as points where an extension of the scheme was announced.

There were 638 second stage applications in Q4 2023/24, this is a 54% increase in second stage applications compared to the same time period last year Q4 2022/23 (415).

The data for figure 3 is available in table 2 below and table 1a of the supplementary tables.

Table 2: Quarterly average number of second stage applications by financial year

Financial year	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21	2021/22	2022/23	2023/24
Quarterly average of second stage applications	932	879	945	703	514	484

The quarterly average of second stage applications for the financial year 2023/24 has decreased 5% since 2022/23, and is the lowest quarterly average recorded since the scheme started. The stamp duty holiday introduced in Q2 2020/21 (July 2020) ended in Q1 2021/22 in Scotland and Wales and in Q2 in England and Northern Ireland.

The quarterly average for both first and second stage applications has dropped consistently since 20/21. The number of applications increased during the covid pandemic, this aligns with the introduction of the stamp duty holiday. Since then, house prices and mortgage rates have increased, which may have decreased the number of potential people using the FHTB scheme.

The Modernised Accommodation Offer (MAO) was also announced in 2023, this seeks to increase access to subsidised family accommodation. This may have led potential FHTB participants to await further information on the MAO before committing to purchasing a home using the FHTB scheme. The MAO is currently under review.

Payments and Purchases

A total of 30,540 payments have been made under the FHTB scheme since it was introduced in April 2014 (as at 31 March 2024). With an average claim of approximately £15,471, this has resulted in expenditure of over £472 million.

Figure 4: FHTB Payments – Q1 2018/19 to Q4 2023/24

Source: DBS

Figure 4 is the same bar chart as in figure 1 with additional reference points, Q3 2018 and 2019 are labelled as points where an extension of the scheme was announced.

There were 340 payments made in Q4 2023/24, this is a 11% decrease in payments compared to the same time period last year Q4 2022/23 (381). The data for figure 4 is available in table 3 below and table 2a of the supplementary tables.

Table 3: Quarterly average number of payments

Financial year	2018/19	2019/20	2020/21	2021/22	2022/23	2023/24
Quarterly average of Payments	871	815	772	738	493	373

The quarterly average for the number of payments in 2023/24 decreased by 24% compared to 2022/23 and is the lowest recorded quarterly average since the scheme started.

Payments and Purchases by Rank and Service

Figure 5: Payments by Rank, Q4 2023/24

Source: JPA

Figure 5 is a bar chart showing the percentage of payments made to Officers and Other Ranks in Q4 2023/24.

In Q4 2023/24, the highest percentage of payments were made to Other Ranks, 70%, compared to 30% of payments made to Officers^{[footnote 1]}.

For comparative purposes, the regular full-time trained Armed Forces strength population is made up of 80% Other Ranks and 20% Officers^{[footnote 2]}.

Figure 6: Payments by Service, Q4 2023/24

Source: JPA

Figure 6 is a bar chart showing the percentage of payments made to Army, Royal Navy/Marines and Royal Air Force personnel in Q4 2023/24.

The highest percentage of the payments in Q4 2023/24 were made to Army personnel, 46%, with 33% of payments made to Royal Navy/Royal Marines personnel and 22% to RAF personnel^{[footnote 1]}.

For comparative purposes, the regular full-time trained Armed Forces strength population is made up of 55% Army personnel, 23% RN/RM personnel and 23% RAF personnel^{[footnote 2]}.

It is estimated that at least 95% of payments, as at 31 March 2024, have already resulted in a purchased property or extension. There is a small lag between payments and loan repayments once a property has been purchased or extended. Some FHTB payments do not result in the purchase of a property or the extension of an existing property, due, for example, to changes in personal circumstance or to the withdrawal of a party from a property chain.

Payments by Age

The largest shares of payments have been made to personnel in the 25 to 29 (34%) and 30 to 34 (23%) age groups. For comparison, personnel in these age groups make up 20% and 17% of the Regular Service Population respectively. Service personnel aged between 18 to 24 account for 24% of the Service population and received 15% of payments. Receipt of FHTB payments among the remaining age groups are broadly similar with their representation in the Service population ^{[footnote 3]}.

Figure 7: Proportion of Payments by Age, April 2014 to March 2024

Figure 7 is a bar chart showing the percentage of payments made to different age groups between April 2014 to March 2024. The data for this chart is available in table 6 of the supplementary tables.

Age data is reported using the ONS Harmonised Standard 4 age bandings

Payments by region ^{[footnote 4]}

Almost half of payments have been used to purchase or extend properties in the South West of England (21%), East Midlands (13%) or South East of England (12%). The regions with the lowest share of payments were Northern Ireland (1%) and London (1%). These proportions have remained stable since they were first reported in the FHTB September 2016 edition.

For comparison, as at 1 April 2023 ^{[footnote 4][footnote 5]}, the majority of service personnel were located in the South East (28%) and South West (27%). By contrast there were very few located in the North East (1%), North West (1%) or Northern Ireland (1%).

Figure 8: Proportion of Payments^{[footnote 5]}, by UK region of property, April 2014 to March 2024

Figure 8 is a bar chart that shows the estimated proportions of payments used to purchase or extend properties in each UK region under the scheme between April 2014 to March 2024. The data for this chart is available in table 5 of the supplementary tables.

Figure 9: Proportion of Payments^{[footnote 5]}, by UK region of property, April 2014 to March 2024.

Figure 9 in an image of a map showing percentage of payments used in each region. The data for this chart is available in table 5 of the supplementary tables.

Source: JPA

Contains Ordnance Survey data Crown copyright and database right 2016.

Glossary

Forces Help to Buy (FHTB): FHTB is an advance of salary scheme which was introduced in April 2014 and allows Service personnel to borrow money in order to buy their first home or move to a new location.

Regular Armed Forces Personnel: Full time Service personnel excluding Full Time Reserve Service (FTRS) personnel.

First Stage applications: Applications which pass initial eligibility checks.

Second Stage applications: Applications which pass detailed eligibility checks.

Defence Business Services (DBS): Organisation which provides corporate services, such as recruitment and payroll, across the Ministry of Defence.

Joint Personnel Administration (JPA): The system used by the Armed Forces to deal with matters of pay, leave and other personnel administrative tasks. JPA replaced several single Service IT systems and was implemented in April 2006 for RAF, November 2006 for Naval Service and April 2007 for Army.

Q1: April to June. Q2: July to September. Q3: October to December. Q4: January to March.

Further Information

Revisions

Corrections to the published statistics will be made if errors are found, or if figures change because of improvements to methodology or changes to definitions. When making corrections, we will follow the Ministry of Defence Statistics, revisions and corrections policy. All corrected figures will be identified by the symbol [r], and an explanation will be given of the reason for and size of the revision. Corrections which would have a significant impact on the utility of the statistics will be corrected as soon as possible, by reissuing the publication. Minor errors will also be corrected, but for convenience these corrections may be timed to coincide with the next release of the publication.

Rounding

Payment figures in this publication have been rounded to the nearest £1. Percentages are calculated from unrounded data and rounded to the nearest whole number, therefore may not sum to 100%.

Statistics quoted in the narrative may be rounded for clarity, with more precise figures available in the Supplementary tables.

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1. JPA data is produced according to when the last pay run for military personnel was completed. The pay run occurs in the middle of the month, which varies according to the month length. Therefore, the Officer/ Other Rank and Service breakdowns represent the number of payments recorded between the pay runs in that month and the preceding month. ↩ ↩²

2. Based on latest figures as at 1 April 2023 taken from the Defence Statistics Quarterly Service Personnel Publication. Due to rounding, percentages may not sum to 100%. ↩ ↩²

3. Service population data by age was taken from the latest MOD UK Armed Forces Diversity Statistics ↩

4. Excluding missing or invalid postcodes ↩ ↩²

5. Service population data by region was taken from the latest MOD UK Armed Forces Location Statistics ↩ ↩² ↩³