What the new government should do to support first-time buyers

During the recent general election campaign, one key point of difference in the parties’ housing policies was that the Conservative party pledged to introduce a new Help to Buy scheme, whereas Labour proposed alternative housing policies, largely focused on social rent.

Now elected, Labour is already pushing ahead with housing initiatives including greater powers and flexibilities in the Affordable Homes Programme, increased local authority funding for housing (to be announced in the next Budget) and changes to the Right to Buy.

Yet in all its housing and planning policy announcements recently – the Labour Party manifesto, the outline of the future Planning and Infrastructure Bill, Angela Rayner’s statement to the House of Commons, and the revised NPPF – shared ownership has not been mentioned once.

Shared ownership is one of the most effective means of first-time buyers getting onto the housing ladder. It’s a very realistic alternative to Help to Buy (which enabled the purchase of almost 390,000 new build homes between 2013 to 2023) and is increasing in popularity to such an extent that the housing market is struggling to meet demand.

An established fixture

Since its inception four decades ago it has become an established fixture in the housing landscape. Today, approximately 202,000 households in England live in shared ownership homes. In 2021-22 alone 19,386 new shared ownership properties were delivered, according to the English Housing Survey. This is the highest number since records began in 2014-15 and a 14% increase on the previous year.

Traditionally, shared ownership was most popular among those aged between 25-35 (32-37 in London) but the upper age is increasing. Today first-time buyers are paying almost a third more to get on the property ladder than they were five years ago. And in the past decade, the number of private renters moving into home ownership fell by 23%.

Although shared ownership remains limited to those with a maximum household income of £80,000 (£90,000 in London), many people have found that due to average house prices rising considerably more than average incomes, the impact of higher interest rates on mortgages, car and credit card loans together with the cost of food and utility bills, they can no longer afford to buy outright, and shared ownership is a good alternative.

There is an urgent need for more support for first-time buyers, whether through Help to Buy or shared ownership. The omission of both from any major Labour housing announcements suggests that it is in danger of being overlooked.

From my point of view, shared ownership already suffers from poor communications compared to Help to Buy. The significant advantage of Help to Buy was government-supported marketing: a dedicated, widely recognised brand with an effective information campaign and website which pointed would-be purchasers in the direction of suitable products. Help to Buy was instantly recognisable by consumers and had the authority and veracity that comes with being government-led.

Communications

Shared ownership, on the other hand, has an uphill struggle with communications. There are many myths around shared ownership which need to be addressed. For example that shared ownership is only available to people with low incomes or those on social housing lists; that you can never fully own a property through shared ownership; that shared ownership properties are of inferior quality to properties sold on the open market; that It's difficult to sell a shared ownership property, or that shared ownership is only available for flats… the list goes on.

While I don’t necessarily advocate a return of Help to Buy as a means of addressing the housing crisis, I believe that the government should allocate to shared ownership providers some of the resources that had previously been invested in Help to Buy. By increasing awareness, trust and desirability, the shared ownership sector can continue to grow, and more than compensate for the absence of Help to Buy.

Helping first-time buyers and others to get on to the property ladder is vital not only for the individuals involved but, as government has been quick to point out, central to the country’s social and financial prospects. Shared ownership is a great product and there is great demand for it – but more needs to be done at a government level to fully realise this potential.