Osborne 'broke rules' with Help to Buy - parliamentary committee

Chancellor George Osborne broke the Treasury's own rules when introducing the Help to Buy scheme, according to a report by the House of Commons public accounts committee.

Government guideline state any new policy should be compared to a number of alternatives, but the committee, led by MP Margaret Hodge, said Osborne failed to do this. The report was also critical of scheme in general, calling on the chancellor to examine its effect on the housing market. A growing number of figures, including Bank of England governor Mark Carney, have begun to question whether Help to Buy is hurting house price affordability, rather than improving it. A number of buyers had also been using the scheme to purchase homes despite having deposits of less than 5%, leadin...