Conveyancers and housing market commentators have described the Autumn Budget as a “missed opportunity” to address key issues like Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) and the reforms of home buying and selling,
Conveyancers have also expressed their concerns around the proposed Your First Home scheme which will allow first-time buyers access to a government backed equity loan worth 20% and a minimum deposit of 2.5% on newbuild homes.; the first scheme to incentivise first time buyers since Help to Buy.
Further details of the initiative were revealed following the Budget, with customer pre-registration and first developer registrations set to open end of December before first customer applications become available in February next year.
Speaking from experience of dealing with Help to Buy, Martin Dewar, head of residential conveyancing at T G Baynes Solicitors said: “Your First Home will bring a new wave of equity loan transactions from early 2027, and anyone who handled Help to Buy will recognise the extra layers it adds to a file.
“Take a first-time buyer purchasing a £300,000 new-build home.
“A 2.5% deposit is £7,500, the government equity loan is £60,000 and the mortgage covers the remaining £232,500. On paper that looks manageable.
“The questions come later. The loan is interest-free for five years before costs rise gradually, and as an equity loan the amount repaid is likely to track the value of the home rather than the sum borrowed.
“In my experience of Help to Buy, buyers understood the deposit and the monthly payment but rarely the exit. Redemption, remortgaging and selling all brought an extra party into the transaction, and those were the points that held completions up years later. It will fall to conveyancers to explain that clearly at the outset.
“Firms should also ask for the scheme’s legal documents and lender requirements well before applications open in February 2027. Pre-registration opens by the end of December, so building those checks into processes from day one will matter.”
Simon Brown, CEO of Landmark, raised concerns with the Scheme having less impact if home buying and selling reforms do not address current pressures conveyancers face.
Brown said: “The Budget’s focus on homeownership, through the Your First Home scheme, local growth and improving the homebuying and selling process is welcome.
“But helping people buy a home will have less impact if lengthy transactions and avoidable delays continue to put purchases at risk of falling through.
“Our independent market research shows property professionals spend around a third of their working day (34%) chasing or being chased for updates, while more than two-thirds of home movers (67%) experienced uncertainty or delays after an offer was accepted. That underlines the need for sector reforms that make reliable information available earlier and improve connectivity across the transaction.”
He added: “The focus now must be on delivery, building on work already underway through the Project 28 Charter and ensuring trusted data supports decisions at every stage, from planning new homes to completing a purchase.”
While Dominic Agace, chief executive of Winkworth, said the property market needs the initiative to be implemented now, not in April, to “help unlock activity at the lower end of the market” and “get the wider housing market moving”.
Agace said: “Helping more people onto the first rung of the ladder is important but affordability and confidence must improve across the market if transaction levels are to recover meaningfully. Without that, the wider housing chain risks remaining stuck.”
Meanwhile Bruce Griffin, CEO and founder of Eden Conveyancing commented: “It’s encouraging to see an increased focus on first-time buyers in the Autumn Budget, with the announcement of a new First Time Buyer ISA and the ‘Your First Home’ scheme.
“Saving for a deposit remains one of the biggest hurdles for people hoping to buy their first home, so initiatives that help people build their savings and take that first step onto the property ladder are welcome.”
The chancellor’s aim of “breathing space” in this Autumn Budget would be delivered through affordability for the property market, managing director of Just Mortgages, John Doherty explained.
“We welcome further details on Your First Home and the news of £4.7 billion in government-backed lending, with a sensible approach to both income and property price caps,” he said.
“It’s important that such a scheme recognises that the challenges facing FTBs aren’t limited to those on lower incomes, while property caps reflect the significant differences in housing costs across the country – particularly in the capital where the original Help to Buy scheme was so welcome.
“Keeping the interest-free period to five years like Help to Buy is also encouraging, giving buyers some certainty over costs in those early years, while lining up with the typical mortgage fixed-rate period.
“Ensuring a broad range of housebuilders, including smaller and regional developers, can participate will be important. The sliding scale for developer contributions is therefore encouraging, but the scheme’s success will largely depend on having a good range of eligible properties available to buyers across the country.
“While the real test will be how the scheme works in practice, support such as this is vital in turning homeownership ambition into reality. While not announced as part of the Budget, the same is true for the increase in income caps for Shared Ownership which is something that has long been called for to enable such an important scheme to have the greatest impact.
“To realise the full potential of housing as a driver of economic growth, we need to create options such as this – not only does it open up homeownership to more people, but it’s a real driver for new build supply and development.”
Commenting on the Scheme and the outlined income caps for it (£110,000 combined income outside of London and £140,000 in the capital), James Chutter, head of new build partnerships at The Mortgage Brain said the caps appear “sensible” and enable the government to target those that need the help most.
He added: “The scheme has the potential to give aspiring homeowners the confidence to take their first step onto the property ladder, while providing developers with a broader pool of buyers who are financially able to proceed.
“While the prospect of further interest rate rises may create uncertainty in the short term, mortgage pricing does not always move in lockstep with the Bank of England’s base rate; lenders will continue to adjust their products in response to funding costs and market conditions.
“Measures that help more people access homeownership must go hand in hand with a sustained commitment to building more homes. Improved access to homeownership will give both buyers and developers greater confidence to plan for the future.”
Further commentary on other housing announcements made by the chancellor can be read here.
