The FirstBuy shared equity scheme has helped Persimmon Homes to an increase in new homes sales.
The government-backed initiative has enabled more first-time buyers to get a foot on the housing ladder by making it easier to secure an affordable mortgage.
Persimmon said it had a shared equity interest in 30% of its first-half of 2012 new homes sales, with 220 new homes sold through the NewBuy scheme, which encourages 95% loan-to-value mortgages.
The company has also increased the supply of family homes in affluent areas, resulting in a 5% rise in private reservations in the first half of this year compared to same period in 2011.
Persimmon saw a 7% increase in average selling prices to £171,206 with completions up 6% to 4,712 new homes.
Despite their encouraging results Persimmon is calling on mortgage lenders to relax lending criteria in order to further boost demand.
Persimmon chairman Nicholas Wrigley said: "We anticipate continued firm underlying demand for new homes but this will remain constrained by the low level of mortgage availability.”
