To ask Her Majesty's Government why, further to the answer by Baroness Andrews on 14 May (Official Report, House of Lords, cols. 1105–07) on funding purchasers under the MyChoiceHomeBuy scheme which stated that “where the funding has been approved, we have released funding and people will get their equity loans”, applicants who had been approved have since been refused funding for a second time. [HL4006]

To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the answer by Baroness Andrews on 14 May (Official Report, House of Lords, cols. 1105–07) on funding purchasers under the MyChoiceHomeBuy scheme, when will more funding be available under the scheme for applicants who have complied with the application procedures but who have been told for a second time that there is no funding available. [HL4007]

There are broadly three stages to the MyChoice HomeBuy application process. At the first stage, the applicant's eligibility for MyChoice HomeBuy is assessed. At the second stage, eligible applicants are given approval to look for a property.

Funding has been made available for all applicants who have reached the third and final stage of the application process. These applicants have been given confirmation in writing from the equity loan provider that their chosen property, and funding for that property, has been approved. The availability of funding is confirmed only at this stage and we are not aware of any cases where funding has subsequently been refused.

All applicants are told that approval to look for a property is not a guarantee of funding. Both the property and the purchaser have to be eligible to qualify for assistance from the MyChoice HomeBuy scheme, so funding approval is not given until after the property is found.

£126 million has been made available this year to meet funding commitments under the MyChoice HomeBuy scheme. We are now considering the next steps for funding. In managing the Affordable Housing Programme, the Government need to strike the right balance between this scheme and other programmes such as the provision of new homes for social rent. That programme, and other programmes that directly support the building of new homes such as HomeBuy Direct, have the added benefit that they deliver new housing supply and support the creation of jobs.