Home Ownership: First-time Buyers

Lord Young of Cookham Excerpts

Monday 22nd June 2026 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Young of Cookham]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to promote home ownership for first time buyers.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (Baroness Taylor of Stevenage) (Lab)]

My Lords, the Government are reforming the broken home-buying and home-selling system to slash delays, cuts costs and stop sales falling through. Last week—it was on Friday, so it may not have got the attention it deserved, like my noble friend’s announcement—we published a road map setting out actions the Government are taking. Our new changes will cut home-buying times by around four weeks and save first-time buyers an average of £650.We are supporting first-time buyers through a range of routes, including shared ownership and the lifetime ISA, while addressing the root causes of unaffordability by increasing house supply and investing in affordable homes.

[Lord Young of Cookham (Con)]

My Lords, I welcome the announcement on Friday. The Minister listed a number of schemes to help first-time buyers, but actually none of them has moved the dial, leaving many young people who are renting and want to be owner-occupiers paying more in rent than they would with a mortgage. Recently, the Prime Minister said:

“For my family growing up, the roof over our heads was everything. But for so many families today, home ownership is a distant dream. My Government will make it a reality once again”.


Would it not be a fitting part of his legacy if, within the next few weeks, he was able to make an announcement that brought those dreams closer?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

We are already doing that. We made that announcement on Friday. From speaking to lenders, we know that many first-time buyers are not aware of all the innovative mortgage products that might help them, or that recent mortgage reforms may help them get on the housing ladder. I had a meeting with the Building Societies Association just a couple of weeks ago, and I met again with the round table that developed this road map last week. It is true that mortgage brokers can help potential homebuyers to find options that may be suitable for them. There are some fantastic new products coming forward. Anyone who read the Metro last week may have seen a wraparound from Lloyds saying it was introducing £5,000-deposit mortgages, back for the first time since 1996. So things are moving and changing, and the road map will help that even further.