Will a re-imagined version of Help to Buy solve Britain's housing crisis? Dominic O’Connell examines whether government mortgage subsidies can rescue Labour's ambitious homebuilding targets.
In this episode of The Business, we explore "Your First Home" - the government's proposed scheme to resurrect Help to Buy and subsidise mortgages for first-time buyers without the bank of mum and dad. With construction stalling across the UK economy, we ask whether restarting Help to Buy will stimulate homebuilding or simply inflate property prices.
Dominic is joined by Jennie Daly, chief executive of Taylor Wimpey - one of Britain's largest house builders - and Carol Lewis, property editor at The Times. Together, they discuss planning delays, red tape, and how changing government fiscal policy impacts British business confidence. They analyse whether mortgage subsidies and supply chain reform can overcome material costs, unlock land development, and deliver long-term economic growth.
“We have to step back and think: what does housebuilding deliver? It’s a fundamental human right,” Jennie Daly said on the show. “New home building is the only route to increasing the housing stock. So there's a fundamental economic and social case for intervention at times in the economic cycle where house building is particularly in danger of contracting.”
Guests:
Presenter:
Producer: Hope Federico
Executive Producer: Miriam Hall and Emily Leahy
Video Producer: Bronwen Latham
Get in touch: thebusiness@thetimes.com
Hear more from The Business:
Why are the super rich leaving Britain?
Does Andy Burnham’s government have the guts to deliver growth?
The rise of the corporate landlord - with Grainger’s Helen Gordon
Read more from The Times:
New home approvals sink to 13-year low as PM revives Help to Buy
How housebuilders won argument to revive help for first-time buyers
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