The Intermediary – October 2026 - Flipbook - Page 30
R A P I D R E AC T I O N
Your First Home
of schemes developers are prepared to take
forward and where they commit capital.
The requirement for participating developers
But reducing the minimum deposit from 5%
under the previous Help to Buy scheme to 2.5% is
a meaningful step forward. For someone buying
to contribute towards the scheme also needs
a £300,000 home, that potentially halves the
careful thought. Developers already face
upfront deposit from £15,000 to £7,500.
Section 106, CIL, BNG, significant upfront
planning costs and additional requirements
Ultimately, anything that genuinely helps
more first-time buyers overcome the twin
associated with building safety. These costs are
barriers of deposit and affordability is welcome.
not experienced in isolation. They accumulate
The key will be ensuring Your First Home creates
within the same appraisal and directly affect
additional homeowners, rather than simply
viability. Government cannot keep adding costs
making new-build homes more expensive.
to the delivery of the very homes it is trying to
help people buy.
So yes, help first-time buyers. Buyer incentives
matter. But if Government wants that support to
translate into more homes, it also must fix the
Louise Apollonio
sales and distribution director,
retail mortgages at Shawbrook
supply side.
Sort planning, properly resource local
Affordability remains one of the biggest barriers
planning authorities, make decisions more
facing first-time buyers, so further support for
consistent and predictable, and hold the
those without access to the ‘Bank of Mum and
system to account for delivery. Otherwise, we
Dad’ is a positive step.
are supporting people’s ability to buy while
However, the detail around the scheme will
continuing to constrain developers’ ability
be crucial. Help to Buy supported many people
to build.
onto the property ladder, but it also highlighted
the importance of buyers fully understanding
Richard Dana
co-founder and CEO at Tembo
the longer-term implications of the support
available to them.
As the Government sets out how the scheme
will work, it will be important that buyers
We had been hoping for a big announcement
can clearly see what they may owe over time
from the Burnham Government – something
and whether it is the right option for their
that went beyond the long-term promise to
circumstances. Brokers will have a key role to
build more homes or tinkering with existing
play in helping buyers understand their choices
policies like the Lifetime ISA, and offered more
and making an informed decision.
immediate solutions to young people trying to
get onto the housing ladder.
Your First Home is that announcement. The
new scheme is effectively a reworked Help to
Buy, targeted at first-time buyers who might
Rebecca Wilson
head of residential new homes at
Bidwells, Cambridge
otherwise struggle to purchase, with a 2.5%
deposit and 20% Government-backed equity
to introduce a new first-time buyer scheme
price caps should also help target the support
is welcome news for the housing market,
more tightly than its predecessor. There are
particularly at a time when affordability
certainly lessons to learn from Help to Buy.
The Government’s own recent evaluation
found that 54% of those who used the previous
remains a significant barrier and at a point
when the market remains under pressure.
For the scheme to have a meaningful impact,
scheme said they could have bought a home
it needs to be attractive and workable for buyers
without it, while Help to Buy properties carried
and lenders alike. We’ve seen initiatives like
a price premium compared with similar
this before, including Deposit Unlock, how
new-builds.
There is therefore a risk that increasing buyers’
the mechanics of a scheme can ultimately
determine whether it works effectively at scale.
purchasing power also feeds through into higher
We need to keep in mind that it’s not a silver
new-build prices. The sharp rise in housebuilder
bullet solution for the market.
share prices – Persimmon, Barratt Redrow,
28
The announcement by Labour Government
loan. Household income and local property-
The affordability question will also be critical.
Taylor Wimpy and Vistry were all up 13% to 17%
Property price caps could make a real difference
[on the day of writing] – shows who investors
in some areas, but they will not make every
expect to benefit from the policy.
market affordable, and the scheme cannot be
The Intermediary | October 2026
