Help to buy returns to the agenda: What would it mean for housebuilders?
The prospect of a revived Help to Buy scheme has moved back to the centre of housing policy debate following reports that incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham is set to review proposals aimed at supporting home ownership and boosting housing delivery.
For the housebuilding industry, this could be a significant moment. Demand-side support has been a priority issue for the sector for several years and a particular focus for the Home Builders Federation (HBF) since the closure of Help to Buy in 2023. Developers, including Weston Homes, have also been engaging government with proposals designed to help first-time buyers access the market while supporting the delivery of much-needed new homes.
The key question now is simple: what will the new Prime Minister do?
The original Help to Buy scheme was introduced in 2013 following the global financial crisis. Through government-backed equity loans, it enabled buyers to purchase a home with a relatively small deposit and helped unlock demand at a time when mortgage lending remained constrained.
While critics argued that the scheme contributed to house price inflation, it was undeniably successful in supporting home ownership and driving demand. Hundreds of thousands of buyers, particularly first-time buyers, were able to get onto the housing ladder through the programme.
Its closure in 2023 created a noticeable gap in the market. Since then, housebuilders have faced higher interest rates, affordability pressures and weaker consumer confidence. Even where planning permissions have been secured, many sites have struggled to achieve the sales rates needed to support faster build-out.
The challenge facing government is increasingly clear: planning reform alone will not deliver 1.5 million homes if purchasers cannot access the market.
Much of the housing debate has focused on planning, local authority capacity and land supply. These are important issues. However, housebuilders consistently argue that demand is just as critical. Developers invest and accelerate construction when there is confidence that homes can be sold.
Without sufficient demand, sites slow down, phases are delayed and housing targets become harder to achieve. For a Prime Minister committed to increasing housing delivery, the private sector remains essential.
This is why industry interest in a replacement for Help to Buy has remained strong. Among the most prominent proposals has been Weston Homes’ suggestion of a modernised Help to Buy-style model designed to support demand without recreating some of the perceived shortcomings of the original scheme. Other organisations have proposed government-backed deposit loans to help buyers overcome one of the biggest barriers to home ownership: raising a deposit.
Burnham has consistently spoken about the need for a major increase in housing delivery and backed ambitious building targets. However, achieving those ambitions will require more than planning reform, public sector housebuilding or new council homes.
The real test will be whether the government is prepared to intervene on the demand side of the market. A new Help to Buy scheme would send a strong signal that ministers understand the relationship between home ownership, housing delivery and economic growth. It would also demonstrate a willingness to work with industry.
The risks of doing nothing are becoming increasingly apparent. Housebuilders continue to face difficult market conditions, and current housing targets cannot be achieved without additional support for purchasers.
As the new government settles into office, demand-side intervention is rapidly climbing the policy agenda. For housebuilders, investors and aspiring homeowners alike, the debate is no longer whether Help to Buy should return. The question is whether Andy Burnham is prepared to turn years of industry lobbying and developer proposals into government policy. If he is serious about hitting England’s housing ambitions, a new generation of Help to Buy may prove difficult to ignore.
