Prime Minster Andy Burnham will resurrect the Help to Buy scheme to revive Britain’s struggling property market, reports suggest.
Under the controversial initiative, introduced under the Conservative Government in 2013 by former Chancellor George Osborne, thousands of Britons got on the property ladder for the first time.
It is understood that Mr Burnham has approved a new equity loan scheme to help first-time buyers, but sources claim it will have a new name to the previous scheme, which ran from 2013 to 2023.
This latest development comes ahead of the Labour Party Conference 2026 in Liverpool this weekend, where the PM is expected to confirm the policy.
Andy Burnham is planning to resurrect Help to Buy
| PA
While controversial among economists, a recent Government review determined the Tory-era scheme was “high value for money” to those who benefited from it.
A recent audit of Help to Buy estimated that the initiative added up to £25billion of social value over the last financial year.
However, critics argue the scheme was overly complicated and inflated house prices to levels that have only exacerbated the UK’s property woes.
Ministers are looking for ways to do good on their promise to build 1.5 million new homes over Labour’s five-year parliament.
The original Help to Buy initiative faced criticism from some economists and housing groups | GETTY
George Osborne introduced the scheme while he was Chancellor
| PA
However, Government officials are worried that the number of new houses being built has been so low that economic projections from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) could be downgraded.
GB News has contacted the Department for Housing, Communities, and Levelling Up for comment.
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