Help To Buy: Most Loans Go To First Time Buyers

Some 80% of the Help To Buy loans granted in the mortgage scheme's first six months were given to first time buyers, the Treasury has said.

A total of 7,313 loans were issued between October last year and March this year, with a total value of £1bn.

The average value of each loan taken out under the controversial scheme was £136,742.

Only about 1% of all mortgages taken out in the period were helped by the scheme, undermining critics of the programme who have said it is prompting a house price bubble.

Most mortgage completions through the scheme were on properties outside London and in regions where prices are lower.

A high proportion of homes supported by the scheme were in the North West and the East of England.

Blackstock property expert Andrew Teacher said: "Today's figures reinforce the fact that Help to Buy has not helped to blow up the London market as numerous commentators have suggested.

"The figures show the scheme has been most effective in areas of reduced growth where prices have remained relatively flat."

The mean value of a property purchased or remortgaged through the scheme is £151,597, compared to a national average house price of £252,000.

A total of 38% of loans were for terraced houses.

The scheme's rollout in October saw only four completions, followed by 164 in November and 818 in December.

However, the monthly figure jumped significantly in the first three months of this year.

In January, completions reached 1,580, while the number rose further in February and March, to 2,090 and 2,657 respectively.

Only 5% - a total of 385 completions - were made on properties in the capital.

The Help To Buy mortgage guarantee scheme was boosted by a second phase equity loan scheme in the spring.

Data for both phases shows a total of 27,861 homes were bought under the scheme, with 85% of sales to first-time buyers.

Prime Minister David Cameron said: "Help to Buy has helped thousands of hardworking people to buy a new home and crucially it is helping to increase the number of new homes being built around the country.

"It is an important part of our long term plan to back those who want to get on and to secure a better future for Britain."

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Clegg Says Cable Not Behind Leadership Plot

Lord Oakeshott's Statement

Updated: 12:43pm UK, Wednesday 28 May 2014

In his resignation statement, Lord Oakeshott said Nick Clegg has led the Liberal Democrats to a position where the party has "no roots, no principles and no values". Here is the statement in full:

I am today taking leave of absence from the House of Lords and resigning as a member of the Liberal Democrats.

I am sure the Party is heading for disaster if it keeps Nick Clegg; and I must not get in the way of the many brave Liberal Democrats fighting for change.

I leave, with a heavy heart, the party I helped to found with such high hopes with Roy Jenkins, Bill Rodgers, Shirley Williams and David Owen at Limehouse in 1981.

We then, like most Liberal Democrats now, wanted a radical progressive party, not a "split the difference" Centre Party, with, in Shirley's memorable words, no roots, no principles and no values.

But that is where Nick Clegg has led us.

I am sorry I have so upset and embarrassed my old friend Vince Cable and that we were not able to talk before he issued yesterday's statement from China. This is the background:

Several months ago a close colleague, concerned about voting intentions in Twickenham, asked me if I would arrange and pay for a poll to show us Vince's current position and how best to get him re-elected.

I was happy to help, and Vince amended and approved the questionnaire, but at his request I excluded a question on voting intentions with a change of leader.

Although Vince had excellent ratings, both as a Minister and a local MP, he was slightly behind the Conservatives in this poll, as the full details on the ICM website show.

That poll worried me so much that I commissioned four more in different types of constituency all over the country and added back the change of leadership question.

The results were in the Guardian yesterday and on the ICM website. Several weeks ago, I told Vince the results of those four polls too.

The combined message of these five professional and reputable ICM constituency polls, Nick Clegg's dire approval ratings year after year in all national polls, and Thursday's appalling council and European election results is crystal clear: we must change the leader to give Liberal Democrat MPs their best chance to win in 2015.

On Thursday I also commissioned one more ICM poll, in Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey; the results should also be on the ICM website tonight.

A few stout-hearted M.P.s and peers and hundreds, maybe soon thousands, of candidates, councillors and Lib Dem members all over Britain are now fighting constituency by constituency for a leadership election.

I have tried to give them the evidence they need to make the change.

I pray that they win, and that the right man, or preferably, woman is now elected to save the Party.

When Charles Kennedy rang to make me a peer, from a panel elected by the party, fourteen years ago he said he wanted me to shake up the Lords.

I've tried - my bills to ban non-dom peers are now law - but my efforts to expose and end cash for peerages in all parties, including our own, and help get the Lords elected have failed.

I am very sorry to leave my many old, close comrades-in-arms on the Liberal Democrat benches all over Britain, and good friends and fellow campaigners across the House.

But the unreformed Lords is now a bloated balloon and at 67 it's time to concentrate on running my business and my charity.

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Hillsborough Jury Shown 1981 Crush Footage

By Becky Johnson, Sky News Correspondent

Footage of a near-fatal crush at the Hillsborough stadium years before the 1989 disaster has been shown at the inquests into the deaths of 96 football fans.

The jury was told 38 fans were injured during a similar crush at the 1981 FA Cup semi-final between Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

On that occasion, the Tottenham fans were allocated the Leppings Lane terrace at the stadium, the same stand allocated to Liverpool fans in 1989.

The jury was told that in 1981, there was congestion at the Leppings Lane turnstiles, resulting in a gate being opened to allow fans into the ground.

The FA stopped staging semi-finals at Hillsborough for six years

The inquest heard the crush occurred as the crowd on the terraces surged forward when Spurs scored four minutes into the match.

The game was televised and the footage shown to the court included clips where stands can be seen behind the action on the pitch.

Six minutes into the game, fans are filmed climbing over the fence between the crowded stands and the pitch and sitting down behind the goal.

By the 11th minute, dozens of fans were sitting on the pitch with more still climbing the fence.

Fans are seen sitting on the edge of the pitch following the crush

Two minutes later, St John Ambulance workers are seen carrying a stretcher along the sideline to help a spectator.

Half an hour into the game, so many fans had managed to escape the crush on the terraces they were lining the pitch behind the western goal and in front of the south stand.

At half-time, spectators ran across the pitch.

The jury was told perimeter fences were opened, allowing between 100 and 250 fans to leave the crowded terrace.

The inquest heard that following the near-tragedy, Hillsborough was not used for FA Cup semi-finals until 1987.

The jury was told that after 1981, consideration was given to whether the capacity for the stand, stated on the ground's safety certificate as 10,100, was too high.

Eight years later in a crush on the same terrace, after the same gate was opened to relieve congestion at the Leppings Lane turnstiles, 96 Liverpool fans died.

The inquests continue.

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MH370 Families Angry Pings 'Not From Jet'

Families of passengers on board the missing flight say they have been left feeling "helpless" and "angry" after the spokesperson said there is agreement acoustic pings came from a source unrelated to flight MH370.

A US Navy official has claimed underwater signals detected in the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane came from a search boat or the ping detector itself.

Sarah Bajc's boyfriend Philip Wood was one of the passengers on board the missing plane. She told Sky News: "We are no further along than we were on March 8. Every single, solitary lead has proven to be false.

Azharuddin Abdul Rahman addresses reporters in Kuala Lumpur

"There is no evidence, not a shred of wreckage, nothing. From a logic perspective we must come to the conclusion that there has got to be another answer.

"From the beginning the Malaysian authorities chose to take on this investigation themselves. Whether we're where we are because they're grossly incompetent or because they're part of some intentional set of actions to lead people astray to cover up what really happened, I don't know.

"But it has to be one of the two. There is no other alternative."

Steve Wang, whose 57-year-old mother was on board the fated flight said: "We all feel quite helpless; we don't know who to turn to now."

Relative Steven Wang has asked for more technical data to be released

"When (Australian Prime Minister) Tony Abbott told the world about the conclusion of the location of the search operation, he was really certain. Now it's not the case at all. 

"What evidence brought him to this conclusion is the question we've been asking all along. What has Boeing done to support this initial conclusion in associate with the detection of the pulse signal? Was it Boeing's conclusion or Australia's?"

Mr Wang, who still has his mother's final voice message she left him just before she boarded the plane, told Sky News that more flight data should be released so it can be independently analysed.

"We ask them to release all the evidence so it can be analysed by more people, not just by Inmarsat or the expert team from Malaysia."

Ocean Shield has now left the search area of 850 sq km (340 sq miles)

Michael Dean, the US Navy's deputy director of ocean engineering said that if the pings came from the plane's black box or voice recorders they would have been found by now.

"Our best theory at this point is that (the pings were) likely some sound produced by the ship... or within the electronics of the towed pinger locator," he told CNN.

"Always your fear any time you put electronic equipment in the water is that if any water gets in and grounds or shorts something out, that you could start producing sound."

The pinger locator was towed by the Australian ship Ocean Shield to listen for underwater signals in the southern Indian Ocean in an area where satellite data indicated the plane went down.

The Bluefin-21 submersible which could have emitted the pings

A series of signals it picked up prompted Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to say he was "very confident" they were from the black box of the plane that vanished en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur with 239 people on board.

But Australia's Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has confirmed that Ocean Shield has now left an area of 850 sq km (340 sq miles) that was being scoured for the passenger jet that disappeared without trace on March 8.

A statement released by Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Centre said: "The ATSB has advised that the search in the vicinity of the acoustic detections can now be considered complete and in its professional judgement, the area can now be discounted as the final resting place of MH370."

Satellite data of the plane's last known movements was recently released

The news will add to the agony of the families of the 239 people who were on the flight and who have campaigned tirelessly for authorities not to give up the search.

Some 47 pages of raw satellite data tracking the last known movements of MH370 were released a few days ago following calls from the families for the information to be made public so it could be verified by independent experts.

Despite today's statement, a US Navy spokesman said Mr Dean's comments were "speculative and premature".

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Elliot Rodger Mass Killing Victims Named

Witnesses have described how gunman Elliot Rodger sprayed bullets from his black BMW as tributes are paid to his victims.

The Hollywood filmmaker's son stabbed three men to death in his apartment before claiming three more victims as he targeted Isla Vista's Alpha Phi sorority and fired indiscriminately at groups of people socialising on Friday night.

Veronika Weiss, 19 and Katie Cooper, 22 - sisters at UCSB's Delta Delta Delta sorority - were shot dead near their college campus, while Christopher Michael Martinez, 20, was killed when Rodger fired into a busy deli.

Chad Scott, a teacher at Ms Weiss' former school Westlake High, wrote on Twitter: "My heart goes out to the family of Veronika Weiss. Veronika was a Westlake graduate killed in yesterday's UCSB shooting. Rest in peace."

Bree Casas posted a picture on Facebook of the two girls together and said: "I couldn't have asked for better sisters in my life."

Katie Cooper (top) posted photos of holidays with friends on Facebook

Mr Martinez's friend Spencer Baker said on Twitter: "Tonight we remember our fellow Gauchos, and most importantly our dear friend, Chris Martinez. Rest easy, man."

Tyler Haden, a journalist with the Santa Barbara Independent newspaper, told Sky News people were "visibly distraught" after the attack.

"We saw a lot of different emergency responders milling about," he said. "There was a lot of confusion because there were so many different crime scenes."

Sorority friends paid tribute to murdered student Veronika Weiss

Robert Johnson said a black BMW had slowed down near IV Deli Mart, a popular gathering spot, where people were eating outside. "Someone in the car" opened fire, he said.

"I heard somewhere between 12 to 20 shots into a group of people who were eating in front of it," he told NBC Los Angeles.

Alexander Mattera, 23, added: "We heard so many gunshots, it was unbelievable. I thought they were firecrackers. There had to have been at least like two guns. There were a lot of shots."

UC Santa Barbara students near one of the crime scenes

Twenty-year-old student Ian Papa said he saw the gunman driving wildly through the street, at one point knocking down two cyclists.

"He hit two bikes," Mr Papa told the New York Times. "One he barely grazed. The other was ploughed down. The biker went through the windshield."

Another witness, Daniel Slovinsky, told the Los Angeles Times: "I heard some pops, but I just assumed they were fireworks. 

The gunman was Elliot Rodger, son of a Hollywood director

"Contrary to what you might expect, there wasn't a whole lot of chaos immediately. I didn't hear any screaming. A few people were running."

Xavier Mozejewski told KEYT-TV that it was like an "old Western shoot-out".

Jimmy Chang, a reporter for the UCSB newspaper, said a female student had told him the gunman opened fire on her as she was walking down the street.

"He actually drove across the street to meet her," Chang told NBC Los Angeles.

Police say they were alerted around 9.30pm on Friday

"The guy stuck his head out and says, 'Hey, what are you doing?' She ignored him. The guy pulled out a gun and shot at her. The bullet missed her head. She said she thought it was a BB gun, and she just kept walking faster."

Sienna Schwartz told CNN that she started to flee when the shots began flying.

"He shot and I felt like air passing my face," she said.

The killer had two gun battles with police before crashing into a parked car. He was found slumped in the BMW with a gunshot wound to the head, though it is unclear if it was self-inflicted.

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'Clegg Must Go Now' Say Senior Lib Dems

A petition calling for Nick Clegg's resignation as the leader of the Liberal Democrats has gathered steam, with hundreds of party members calling for him to step down.

The Deputy Prime Minister has insisted he will not quit despite more than 250 of the party's councillors losing their seats in local elections in England.

The Liberal Democrats are at risk of losing every one of their 11 MEPs when European election results are declared on Monday.

Former Lib Dem MP Lembit Opik told Sky News that based on this week's local election drubbing, Mr Clegg had to quit.

"We lost roughly 40% of the councillors who were defending their seats ... Nick Clegg, whatever he thinks of himself, in the collective interests he has to go," he said.

But despite the poor local election results, Lib Dem Party President Tim Farron has backed his embattled leader.

Asked by Sky's Dermot Murnaghan whether Mr Clegg was the right person to lead the Liberal Democrats into the 2015 General Election, Mr Farron replied: "Yes, of course."

"Nick Clegg should undoubtedly stay and the Liberal Democrats should stay the course in government," he said.

"It's important we stand together as a party, behind Nick Clegg's leadership, and go forward for 2015."

The former Lib Dem leader Lord Ashdown also spoke out in support of Mr Clegg, labelling calls for him to step down "silly".

"It's frankly one of the silliest ideas I've ever heard that we should waste summer in an unnecessary and divisive leadership campaign," he told Sky News.

"We should get out on the streets with the message Nick has given us and campaign for the general election."

MP John Pugh, who described the local election defeats as "abysmal", said the party's "high command" was in danger of seeming like "Generals at the Somme".

Jackie Porter, who is set to fight the Tory-held target seat of Winchester in next May's general election, said the party was "not going forward with a clear strategy".

The county councillor said the party's achievements were overshadowed because Mr Clegg "allowed himself to be portrayed as just another pea out of the same pod" as David Cameron and Ed Miliband.

In order to win back support, the party needed to demonstrate it was different, she suggested.

But Mr Clegg has insisted he will 'absolutely not' resign

More than 200 grassroots members have signed up to the online LibDems4Change campaign which has published an open letter to Mr Clegg.

It says: "We consider it vital that at the 2015 General Election the Party should be led by someone who will receive a fair hearing about our achievements and ambitions for the future.

"It is clear to us that this person is not you, as the loss of so many of our hard-working councillors highlights.

"You have fulfilled a range of objectives in Government, but we now believe that progress will be best achieved under a new leader.

"We therefore ask that you stand down, allowing the membership to select your successor this summer."

Under existing rules, if Mr Clegg refuses to quit, a leadership contest would be triggered if 75 local party associations formally demand one or a majority of the parliamentary party approves a no confidence motion.

Mr Clegg said on Saturday he would "absolutely not" resign, and insisted the Lib Dems were still succeeding where they focused on their achievements in coalition.

He blamed a wider "anti-politics mood" but his party has seen its opinion poll ratings at consistently low levels since joining the Conservative-led coalition.

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Elliot Rodger: Did Police Miss Their Chance?

Police have admitted Elliot Rodger was "severely mentally disturbed" - so were opportunities missed to stop his killing spree?

Santa Barbara sheriff Bill Brown told reporters they had encountered Rodger three times - the most significant on April 30 when a family member asked police to check on him.

"(Police) found him to be polite and courteous. He downplayed the concerns for his welfare and the deputies cleared the call," said Sheriff Brown.

Rodger regularly posted "selfie" photos on social media

"They determined he did not meet the criteria for an involuntary mental health hold. He appeared timid and shy."

In his rambling online 'manifesto', Rodger describes his relief that his plans for murder had not been discovered.

The killer pictured in the BMW he used in his killing spree

"For a few horrible seconds I thought it was all over," writes the 22-year-old, who says his plans for a "Day of Retribution" began last summer when he claims he was attacked at a party.

In pictures posted on social networking websites, Rodger appeared to be a privileged young man who enjoyed the trappings of his Hollywood filmmaker father's success.

The 22-year-old pictured recently with his filmmaker father Peter

In reality, he was documenting his inner torment and making painstaking preparations for the killing spree that left six innocent people dead in knife and gun attacks.

Rodger described taking down his YouTube videos to head off suspicions over his mental health.

Police told reporters the killer said he was having social problems and would not be returning to school for the next year.

Rodger (L) attended the 2012 Hunger Games premiere with his father (R)

"The deputies discussed options available to him in terms of support offered", said Sheriff Brown, who added such call-outs were a routine part of the job.

The Rodgers' family lawyer, Alan Shifman, said Elliot had been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome - a form of autism - at a young age.

"He was probably a victim, from my understanding, of bullying throughout his life," said Mr Shifman. "I am sure that played a role in the terrible consequences of last night.

The student, circled in a fifth grade photo, was bullied, his family said

"He had multiple therapists - a social worker who as recently as last week was concerned."

The killer's online post - which runs to more than 140 pages - reveals the extent of his mental illness. Police have described it as a "combination of an autobiography and diary".

He repeatedly describes his hatred of women and his frustration at being ignored and remaining a virgin while girls around him choose "obnoxious" men, or men he considers racially inferior.

The killer posted a picture of himself on a visit to London in 2011

"Women are sexually attracted to the wrong type of man," he writes.

"Obnoxious, tough jock-type men. They should be going for intelligent gentlemen such as myself ... This is a major flaw in the foundation of humanity."

The final section of his post is entitled: 'Part 6: Santa Barbara: Endgame Age 19-22'.

Rodger attended a 'private' Katy Perry concert in March 2012

He sets out his plans to "silently kill as many people as I can by luring them into my apartment through some sort of trickery".

Rodger also talks of beheading and torturing his victims, as well as killing all the members of the Alpha Phi sorority.

"I will punish all females for the crime of depriving me of sex," he writes.

The young man appeared to enjoy the trappings of his father's success

Police revealed he tried unsuccessfully to enter the sorority and that the women inside heard "loud, aggressive knocking" for several minutes but did not open the door.

With his plan seemingly frustrated, Rodger shot three young female students, killing two - Katherine Cooper, 22, and Veronica Weiss, 19.

He then went on a shooting spree through Santa Barbara, killing one more victim, Christopher Michael-Martinez. Seven people also remain in hospital, two with serious injuries.

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Elliot Rodger Shooting: Family 'In Shock'

Elliott Rodger's filmmaker father is "absolutely broken" after his son killed six people in a knife and gun rampage.

The sister of Hunger Games assistant director Peter Rodger told Sky News his family are "in total shock" and called for changes to US gun laws in the wake of the atrocity in California.

Speaking from her home in Cazals, France, Jenni Rodger said: "I can't imagine how awful this must be for the families of those killed. My heart goes out to them.

"I don't know how on earth a sick, disturbed young man was able to get hold of a gun.

"He was always a disturbed child. I don't know how he was allowed to get a gun. Something has to be done about gun laws in America."

She added: "Pete is absolutely broken. He is such a sensitive being. I can't see how he'll ever recover from this."

Filmmaker Peter Rodger was educated in Maidstone, Kent

CCTV footage has also been released showing shoppers scattering as Rodger fired bullets into a deli during the shooting spree.

The 22-year-old "repeatedly stabbed" three men to death in his apartment before taking to the streets in his BMW, police said.

British-born Rodger had three semi-automatic handguns and 400 rounds of ammunition with him when he died, officers confirmed.

He also left seven others in hospital as he sped around Isla Vista, a student enclave next to the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Rodger said he was angry at women for rejecting him

County Sheriff Bill Brown told reporters Rodger had tried to get into a college sorority house during the Friday night attack, and that women inside had heard "loud, aggressive knocking" for several minutes.

Unable to gain access, police said he then shot three young women outside the building, killing Veronika Weiss, 19, and Katie Cooper, 22.

The sixth victim, 20-year-old student Christopher Michael-Martinez, was shot dead outside a delicatessen.

Rodger went to the 2012 Hunger Games premiere with his father Peter

In an emotional statement, his father called on the "insanity" to stop and blamed "irresponsible politicians" for not doing more on gun control.

Rodger's family said the attacker had been receiving psychiatric care.

He had also been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome and had "multiple therapists", said Alan Shifman, the family's lawyer.

A day before the attack, the killer posted a video on YouTube, promising to slaughter "spoilt, stuck-up, blonde" women who he said had rebuffed him.

Police showed images of the handguns used by the 22-year-old

Rodger made a chilling tirade against women and the rest of humanity, threatening a "day of retribution".

He also published a rambling 141-page manifesto on the internet, called My Twisted World, where he detailed his childhood.

Police said Rodger's attacks had taken place at 10 locations as he fled from officers and fired at pedestrians from his black BMW.

He also crashed into two cyclists - one of whom caved in the windshield.

Police are investigating 10 locations and multiple crime scenes

Police exchanged fire with Rodger and believe they hit him in the hip as they opened fire on his car. The rampage ended when he crashed his vehicle after ploughing into the second cyclist.

Sheriff Brown said they found him with a gun wound to the head, which they believe was self-inflicted.

Rodger's guns were all legally purchased and registered to him.

Seven people remain in hospital at Santa Barbara's Cottage Hospital with gun wounds and injuries caused by the suspect's car, said Dr Stephen Kaminski. Two of them are in a serious condition.

Police believe Rodger shot himself in the head after he crashed his BMW

Rodger's family called police last month worried about his welfare but officers said they found him "polite and courteous" and no action was deemed necessary.

In a blog post, he wrote he was born in the UK and moved to the US when he was five. His father, Peter, was educated in Maidstone, Kent.

Rodger was pictured two years ago on the red carpet with his father at a premiere for The Hunger Games, a dystopian futuristic drama in which teenagers fight each other to the death.

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