If you have been eyeing a first home but the deposit math keeps ruining the mood, the government just teased a workaround. It said it would introduce "Your First Home," a package of equity loans for first-time buyers of newly built properties, part of Prime Minister Andy Burnham's push to boost construction and help people onto the ladder.
Here is the core: buyers who can scrape together a 2.5% deposit could pair it with a 20% equity loan. The loans would begin with an interest-free period, and developers would contribute to the programme's running costs. Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey is set to provide the nuts and bolts at the budget next month. According to the government, pre-registration is slated to begin no later than the close of 2026. Labour said the plan would be funded by trimming other government budgets.
This is a modern riff on the Conservative-era Help to Buy initiative started by George Osborne in 2013 that ran for about a decade. A government-commissioned audit concluded Help to Buy both improved affordability and increased housing supply. The review put costs at about £30 billion versus roughly £27 billion in repayments and income, and said the welfare benefits from extra and higher-quality homes produced an NPSV of £25 billion. Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said the new offer "will build on the lessons learnt from previous schemes, white retaining the benefits," adding, "We're delivering a new generation of equity loans in a Labour way."
"Without some kind of intervention, the government risked permanently losing capacity in the housebuilding sector," said Lucian Cook, the head of residential research at Savills. With prices relatively muted, he added, the state could see a reasonable return on its outlay if interest rates ease over time.
The timing lands as Labour opens its annual party conference in Liverpool, with Burnham aiming to keep the polling lift he has seen since he became prime minister in July. It also arrives as the party strains to hit its flagship goal of 1.5 million new homes by 2029. Bloomberg Intelligence estimates the UK could miss that target by at least 40%, citing obstacles for builders, including elevated energy costs caused by the US-Iran war, and mortgage rates that have damped demand.
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In the run-up to the four day conference, Labour said it would broaden the government's subsidized job placements to cover young people with health conditions. For employers taking on under-24s who have physical or mental health issues or other long-term conditions, the state would pick up the wage bill for the initial six months of the job. The Jobs Guarantee already offers publicly funded placements for 18 to 24 year olds who have been out of work for 18 months. From April 2027, the proposed support would extend to young people who have been receiving health benefits for 13 weeks.
Provisional results from a government-commissioned study explain the move: almost half of the UK's cohort of one million young people who are not in education, work or training report having a disability, and worsening mental health is a key factor behind rising youth joblessness. The proposals would give eligible people a guaranteed role plus customized help with health, money and housing. The Government would pick up employers' onboarding expenses and pay the full wage for as many as 25 hours per week for six months, Labour said.
For your wallet, this is a two-pronged effort to support demand for new homes and open more routes into work for young people struggling with health issues. If it helps first-time buyers clear the deposit hurdle and steadies housebuilders, it could ripple into construction, retail, and local services. The wild cards remain borrowing costs and energy prices, which still call the tune on housing and hiring.
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