Comment from District & County Investments on the Government's First Home Scheme

28 September 2026

Michael Clifford, Commercial Director at District & County Investments:

“From a developer’s perspective, anything that helps more first-time buyers overcome the deposit barrier and thus enabling more to buy a new-build home has the potential to support both confidence and housing delivery with developers which should be welcomed.

“One of the challenges developers face at the moment is not necessarily a lack of underlying demand for good-quality housing, but uncertainty around sales rates and how quickly buyers can complete. If this scheme increases the pool of buyers able to purchase a new-build property, that should give developers greater confidence that there will be customers for the homes they are building.

“The details will be important, particularly around the property price caps, eligibility criteria, developer contribution and how quickly the scheme can be implemented. However, there is a clear link between supporting demand and supporting supply and this is a welcome incentive to assist with sales of existing stock, allowing developers to then move to the next project. There are risks associated with this type of assistance, which we have previously seen (i.e., reductions in demand at levels slightly over the max price threshold), but on balance this is very welcome news. If developers have greater confidence that homes will sell, it becomes easier to commit capital to new sites and move schemes forward.”