ANDY Burnham is set to review plans to bring back the Help to Buy scheme when he becomes Prime Minister.
A review already commissioned by housing minister Matthew Pennycook will explore a potential version of the scheme, according to The Telegraph.
Help to Buy was designed to help first-time buyers get on the property ladder with just a 5% deposit.
The government then lent you between 5% and 20% of the cost of a new-build home as an equity loan, which was interest-free for the first five years.
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The scheme was closed to new applicants in 2023.
The housing crisis is a top priority for Andy Burnham and one of the key measures he will need to decide is whether to bring back the scheme to help those struggling to buy a house.
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It is understood that Pennycook’s review followed an internal report, which was commissioned by members of the housing department and Treasury.
The review concluded that introducing a new version of the Help to Buy scheme would not push up house prices.
This had previously been a concern and is said to be the reason Chancellor Rachel Reeves previously attempted to block the scheme.
An average home in the UK is now worth £270,000, after prices rose by 3.8% year on year, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The measure is part of plans to help young people own a home of their own.
The Government has also announced a new First Time Buyer Isa, which will replace the Lifetime Isa.
The scheme will remove the early withdrawal penalties and make sure the government bonus is paid when contracts are exchanged.
Meanwhile, Mr Burnham has been urged to consider a state-backed deposit loan of up to 40%.
Think tank the Fabian Society has presented Mr Burnham with the plans, which could help up to 136,000 families onto the property ladder in the next five years.
The think tank argued that the plans would be “cost neutral” and would charge the state £2.1billion a year, but first-time buyers would pay the loans back quickly after the initial five year period.
In its manifesto Labour pledged to build 1.5 million homes in England during the course of this parliament.
But estate agent Savills is forecasting that new home completions in England will average 167,500 per year over the five years to 2029/30.
This is well below the Government’s target of 300,000 homes a year.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government was approached for comment.
