Burnham unveils "Your First Home" equity loan plan ahead of Labour conference

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has unveiled a government-backed scheme designed to help first-time buyers in England purchase new-build homes, announcing the policy in Liverpool on the eve of the Labour Party conference. The "Your First Home" scheme will allow buyers to put down a deposit of just 2.5% and will provide a loan equal to 20% of the property's value to help cover the purchase.

Speaking to assembled delegates and party members, Burnham said the scheme was aimed squarely at young people without the advantage of the "bank of mum and dad" — the informal help many first-time buyers receive from parents or relatives. He said too many young people were struggling with housing costs and had given up hope of ever owning a home, adding: "So we will step in to help more first-time buyers on to the housing ladder."

The prime minister argued the intervention would also benefit the wider construction sector, saying he believed the scheme would give developers the "confidence to deliver the high-quality new homes the country needs". Key operational details remain unresolved, however. Ministers have not confirmed whether an age restriction will apply, nor whether there will be a cap on the value of properties eligible for support. Burnham indicated that further specifics — including the length of the initial interest-free period on the equity loan — would be set out in next month's Budget.

The announcement landed with a clear political purpose. Burnham arrived in Liverpool ahead of his first party conference as prime minister and said he wanted it to be a "really important week where we set out a new direction for the country". He framed the moment as a turning point for the country, declaring: "We've had a decade since Brexit and it's been a decade of too much drift, too much division, and we need to draw a line on that."

The proposal draws heavy comparison with previous government efforts, most obviously the Help to Buy scheme launched in 2013 by then-chancellor George Osborne. Help to Buy expanded an earlier programme called FirstBuy, which was aimed solely at first-time buyers, and initially allowed all purchasers to put down a 5% deposit on a newly built home worth up to £600,000. Up to 20% of the cost was funded through a shared equity loan that was interest-free for the first five years.

The first version of Help to Buy ran until 2021. A second iteration, which remained open until 2023, restricted access to first-time buyers and applied regional price caps to the properties that could be bought — a design feature that appears to have informed the current proposal's interest-free period and its unconfirmed status on property price limits.

An official evaluation of Help to Buy found that more than 387,000 properties were purchased through the scheme, of which 328,000 were bought by first-time buyers. The report concluded the programme had been "effective in supporting people into home ownership in some areas, but did not remove affordability barriers for first-time buyers in areas that were already relatively expensive" — a finding that suggests equity loans alone cannot overcome the most severe supply and price pressures.

Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said "Your First Home" would "build on the lessons learned from previous schemes, while retaining the benefits". The Home Builders Federation, the trade body for housebuilders, welcomed the announcement, saying it had "long called for action to improve access to home ownership". It added: "Our analysis shows a well-designed scheme can make a meaningful difference for households struggling to get on to the property ladder."

Funding details point to a mixed model. Money is expected to come from reprioritising existing budgets rather than a fresh allocation, while developers will contribute towards the running costs of the scheme. That contribution is central to the criticism from the Conservatives, whose shadow housing secretary Katie Lam said Labour wanted first-time buyers to "take on even more debt to afford the few homes that have been built". She said taxpayers would take a "stake in their homes" and end up "picking up the bill for months".

Lam also attacked the developer levy as a supply-side measure, warning: "Slapping another levy on developers risks pushing up the price of new homes too." She concluded: "This is a colossal admission of failure. This Labour government is making homes harder to build, then asking buyers to borrow more to pay for them." The Conservatives' stated priorities are scrapping stamp duty, "backing British house builders" and ensuring homes are "built in the places that people actually want to live".

The timing of the announcement is significant given the government's own build targets. Rayner told the BBC earlier this month there was only a "slim chance" the government would meet its target of 1.5m homes in England by the next election, but said she was "not giving it up". Data up to June this year suggested ministers are behind the pace of construction required, a target housebuilders have previously warned was too optimistic. BBC Verify analysis also showed a decline in the number of new houses being built during Labour's first year in power, extending a downward trend that began under the Conservatives.

Alongside the housing package, Burnham announced a pledge to offer quicker access to a guaranteed job to young people receiving health or disability support. The offer would come three months after they first claim benefits, and the change would take effect from next April. Under the current job guarantee scheme, jobless 18-to-24-year-olds must have been on universal credit for 18 months before receiving an offer.

Labour said the government would cover 100% of wage costs for up to 25 hours a week for six months, effectively creating a transitional, subsidised route into employment. Conservative shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately said Labour should have cut "burdens" on businesses to help ensure disabled people are employed. She said: "Instead, they are bringing back a Conservative post-pandemic scheme. Andy Burnham clearly has no new ideas."