LONDON, Nov 6 (Reuters) - British housebuilder Persimmon has yet to gain any significant benefit from thegovernment's mortgage guarantee scheme because of the highinterest rates being charged, the company said on Wednesday.
Persimmon and its rival housebuilders have been some of thebiggest beneficiaries of government efforts to help homebuyersand free up mortgage lending, primarily through the equity loanelement of the Help to Buy scheme, which relates only tonew-build properties.
Visitor levels to Persimmon's sites between July 1 and Nov.5 were 20 percent higher than a year earlier, it said. Thebuilder says it is now fully sold for the current year, with 650million pounds ($1.04 billion) in forward sales reserved beyond2013.
However, it added that the impact from the second part ofHelp to Buy, guaranteeing up to 130 billion pounds of mortgageson new and existing homes, has been muted since its Octoberlaunch because of the interest rates.
Four of Britain's large lenders - RBS, Lloyds, HSBC and Santander UK - have signedup to this part of the scheme.
"We believe that mortgages associated with the Help to Buyequity loan scheme will remain the preferred choice for themajority of customers of the housebuilding industry, given thatinterest rates for this product are significantly morecompetitive than those available with the government guarantee,"the company said.
Interest rates for the mortgage guarantee scheme currentlystand at about 5 percent.
Persimmon, Britain's largest housebuilder by marketcapitalisation, said it has sold more than 3,000 homes underHelp to Buy's equity loan scheme, which was launched in April.
The company also said that its underlying operating marginsimproved by 300 basis points in the first half of the year to15.1 percent.
Shares in Persimmon, which have risen by more than 60percent since the start of the year, closed at 1215 pence onTuesday, valuing it at 5.9 billion pounds.