Burnham's 'Your First Home' Scheme: How the New Help-to-Buy Would Work
Andy Burnham has announced a new help-to-buy scheme called "Your first home" for first-time buyers in England.
The announcement came in an interview with The Guardian on the eve of Labour's party conference in Liverpool, published on 26 September 2026. The Guardian The scheme is aimed at people with steady incomes who cannot save a large deposit or do not have family money to draw on.
Under the plan, eligible buyers could get a 20% equity loan to buy a new-build home. That means the government would lend a fifth of the price as a loan linked to the home's value, with an initial period where no interest is charged. Buyers would need to put down at least 2.5% themselves.
Access would be tightly limited. Caps on household income and on savings for a deposit would exclude high earners and people with large savings, while separate price caps would limit purchases to modest homes. The design is described as targeted support rather than a subsidy open to everyone.
The scheme would go through the budget process. John Healey is expected to announce it in the budget, with registration opening by the end of 2026. It would be funded by shifting money within existing government budgets. Developers would pay a fee linked to property values to take part, with that money helping to cover running costs.
Burnham also announced plans to give local leaders stronger powers to take over homes that have been empty or derelict for a long time. No detailed mechanism for how that would work was given.
The proposal revives a dispute from the previous government. Housing ministers and officials under Keir Starmer argued for a new version of help to buy but were overruled by then-chancellor Rachel Reeves. The original help-to-buy scheme, introduced under George Osborne, supported 387,000 people.
Burnham became Britain's seventh prime minister in a decade on Monday, July 20, 2026. Reuters He pledged on taking office to reshape British politics around a new economic model and to "rewire" the nation. Healey serves as finance minister in his government. Both have promised to keep the government's fiscal rules, self-imposed limits on borrowing that leave little room for extra borrowing. Reuters
The broader context here is how a government bound by fiscal rules tries to widen home ownership without borrowing more. Paying through reprioritisation means housing must compete with other departments for money. The developer fee would help pay for the scheme, but how it is set will affect whether builders see joining as commercially sound or as an extra cost on new supply.
Looking at what this means for the market, much depends on figures that have not been published yet. Income thresholds, deposit limits and regional price caps will decide who qualifies and where the scheme can be used. A 20% loan with a small deposit lowers the first hurdle, but buyers would still face price changes, higher charges once the interest-free period ends, and the need to repay the government's share. The empty-homes plan points to a second track, using existing homes alongside new builds. The political test is whether the two together open ownership to renters without family wealth while holding to fiscal pledges.
