Labour has announced that it will make the mortgage guarantee scheme permanent to help get more people on to the property ladder in its Freedom to Buy scheme.
In several posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, Sir Keir Starmer said: “After 14 years of the Tories, the dream of homeownership is out of reach for too many young people. With our Freedom to Buy scheme, my Labour government would make it a reality again.”
He added: “My parents’ home gave them security and was a foundation for our family. As Prime Minister, I will turn the dream of owning a home into a reality.”
Labour claims that the pledge to make the mortgage guarantee scheme permanent would help a further 80,000 young people get on the housing ladder.
Labour also reiterated its plans to build one-and-a-half million more homes, first dibs for local people on new developments and new planning officers funded by taxing foreign buyers.
Scheme extended to 2025
The mortgage guarantee scheme was launched in April 2021 and was initially supposed to end in December 2023, but was extended in last year’s Autumn Budget to 2025.
Since it was launched, 42,836 mortgages have been completed through the scheme, which made up 1.3% of all residential mortgage completions in the UK over that period, and 85% of purchases have been made by first-time buyers.
The scheme aimed to increase the supply of low-deposit mortgages, which were reduced during the pandemic as financial volatility made high-loan-to-value (LTV) lending more challenging.
It offers participating lenders the option to buy a guarantee on mortgages where a borrower only has a deposit of 5%. This will compensate lenders for a portion of net losses in the event of repossession.
The guarantee applies from 80% of purchase value of the guaranteed property and covers 95% of net losses.
It comes after the Conservatives pledged not to increase stamp duty, along with not changing council tax bands, doing a council tax re-evaluation and maintaining private residence relief, as part of its “Family Home Tax Guarantee”.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt called on Labour to back the tax pledge, as it would “put families first and higher taxes second”.
Anna is currently the deputy editor for Mortgage Solutions and editor for Specialist Lending Solutions. She has worked as a journalist since 2019, having secured her Gold Standard NCTJ diploma from News Associates in a fast-track six-month course.
She started her career as a report at specialist publication The Insurance Insider covering a wide range of areas before joining Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions in 2021.
In her role, she helps put together and structure the news agenda for the day and writes up press releases, reports, interviews, analyses and exclusives across both titles. She also commissions blogs for Specialist Lending Solutions and hosts online masterclasses and in-person events across the business.
She has been shortlisted for three journalism awards, which include BIBA Journalist and Media Awards Scoop of Year Award in 2020, Headline Money Mortgage Journalist of the Year Award (B2B) in 2022 and 2023.
Prior to being a journalist, Anna worked in ecommerce across Snow + Rock, Cycle Surgery and Runners Need websites, and before that worked at specialist financial PR firm Rostrum.
In her spare time, Anna enjoys reading, seeing live music, and cooking for friends and family. When she gets a chance, she also enjoys hiking, skiing and indoor rock climbing.
