Prime Minister Andy Burnham announces first-home programme in England — The Guardian

In the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced the “Your First Home” programme for first-time buyers in England. It is intended to help people with stable incomes who cannot save a substantial deposit or do not have financial support from their families, The Guardian reports.

Loan for buying a newly built home

Under the programme, first-time buyers will be able to receive an equity loan worth 20% of the cost of a newly built home. It will be interest-free for an initial period, while the minimum personal contribution will be 2.5%.

Income limits for households and limits on the size of the deposit are planned in order to exclude people with the highest incomes and substantial savings. Property price caps will also apply, meaning that only moderately priced homes will be available for purchase under the programme.

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Funding and empty homes

According to the publication, John Healey is to announce the programme during the presentation of the budget, while registration is planned to open by the end of 2026. It will be funded through a review of priorities in existing government budgets. Developers will pay a contribution linked to the value of the properties, which will partly cover the costs of operating the programme.

Burnham also presented plans to strengthen local authorities’ powers over long-term empty and neglected homes. The period after which a property can fall under the empty homes management mechanism is proposed to be reduced from two years to six months. This is expected to make it possible to return more than 300,000 homes classified as long-term empty to housing families in need.