What the General Election means for first-time buyers

As record rents and high mortgage rates hamper first-time buyers in their efforts to get on to the property ladder, the Times looks at how the political parties are planning to turn 'Generation Rent' into 'Generation Buy'. The Conservatives' big offer to first-time buyers is the revival of its Help to Buy scheme for three years. Like the last version of the scheme, which ended in March 2023, it would allow first-time buyers to put down a 5% deposit on a new-build home and get an equity loan of up to 20% of the property’s value interest-free for five years.  If re-elected, first-time buyers will not have to pay stamp duty land tax on a home worth up to £425,000, so they could add more of their savings to their deposit. Labour meanwhile has said it would introduce Freedom to Buy, a government-backed mortgage guarantee scheme. Another key Labour pledge is to stop new housing being sold to buy-to-let investors and overseas buyers, with first-time buyers given first refusal. The Lib Dems have pledged to build 380,000 homes a year, with 150,000 of those to be social housing, by creating ten new garden cities. The party would also give local councils the option to end right to buy

The Times (22/06/2024)