The new government Help to Buy scheme announced in April 2013 provides benefits to homebuyers and was introduced to stimulate the flagging UK housing market. The new scheme appears to have had an impact with figures for May 2013 revealing that house prices have risen to a post credit crunch high. The average house price in the UK has risen to £233,061, a rise of 2.7% compared to prior year. House prices in London continue to increase although this is not reflective of the rest of the UK, with prices stagnating in many regions outside of the capital.