Industry · · 4 min read
Help to Buy coming back, and construction should be ready for 2027
Help to Buy is back
If housebuilding has gone quiet where you work, this is the news you want. The government is bringing back a Help to Buy style scheme for first-time buyers. It's called Your First Home, and it only covers new builds.
Here's the shape of it. A first-timer puts down 2.5%. The government lends them another 20% against the house, interest free to begin with, and they get a mortgage for the rest. Builders who sign up pay in towards the cost. GOV.UK
There'll be caps on what buyers earn and what the house can cost, so it's pointed at ordinary people rather than anyone buying big. HomeOwners Alliance
New build only. That's the bit that matters to you. Every house it sells is a house somebody has to build.
Last time they did this, starts went up 31%
This isn't a punt on something new. Help to Buy ran from 2013 to 2023 and put 387,195 buyers into new homes in England, most of them first-timers. In its first year alone, housing starts went up 31%. Construction Enquirer; analysis from RBC Capital Markets
The government had the old scheme independently reviewed this month, before any of this was announced. The review found it got more homes built across England and was good value for the money spent. Building
The builders clearly think it's happening again. Housebuilder shares jumped as much as 18% in a day, with Barratt Redrow, Bellway, MJ Gleeson and Persimmon all up. Reported by The Telegraph, via AOL
You don't need to follow share prices to read that one. The people who buy land and open sites think houses are about to start selling.
That's around 40,000 more houses a year
England started 35,910 homes between April and June this year. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Marcus Dixon at property firm JLL reckons the scheme could add roughly 40,000 houses a year on top of that, pushing England towards 170,000 starts. Reported by The Telegraph, via AOL
Think about what 40,000 houses actually is. Groundworks. Frames. Roofs. First fix, second fix. Plastering, tiling, fit-out. Then the merchants, the yards and the factories behind all of it. The Home Builders Federation says the scheme will give builders the confidence to open new sites and send a boost right through the supply chain. Builders Merchants News
The Construction Products Association had been asking the government for exactly this. Its economics director Noble Francis called it an important step. Construction Enquirer
The work lands in 2027
28 October. The Budget, where we find out the earnings caps, the price caps and when it opens. GOV.UK
End of this year. Buyers can register. HomeOwners Alliance
Through 2027. Registrations become reservations, reservations become sales, and sales become sites. The Home Builders Federation is talking about work ramping up over the next 12 to 18 months. Builders Merchants News
Those caps will decide how big it gets, and some analysts reckon it'll do less than 2013 did, because borrowing costs more now. Construction Wave So take 40,000 as the best case rather than a promise, and a national forecast still tells you nothing about your own diary.
What's solid is the direction. The government has decided to push buyers back into new build, the industry has been asking for this for three years, and the money starts moving in 2027.
Sort your ticket while it's quiet
Here's the practical bit. When sites open, somebody has to run them. Every site needs a manager, every gang needs a supervisor, and both need the card to prove it.
The people who get the call in 2027 are the ones already qualified when the phone goes. An NVQ takes months, so the window to sort it is the quiet stretch between now and then.
If you're already doing the job, the qualification puts it on paper and puts you at the front of the queue.
For where the industry stands today, read what is happening in the UK construction industry in 2026.
References
Sources checked on 29 September 2026.
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. New first-time buyer scheme to be confirmed at Budget. Published 26 September 2026.
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. Housing supply: indicators of new supply, England, April to June 2026. Published 24 September 2026.
- HomeOwners Alliance. Your First Home scheme. Updated 29 September 2026.
- Construction Enquirer. House builders hail return of Help to Buy-style loans. Published 28 September 2026.
- Building. Help to Buy offered high value for money and boosted housing supply, official report finds. Published 16 September 2026, reporting the MHCLG evaluation by Verian, Alma Economics and Sheffield Hallam University.
- Builders Merchants News. Your First Home scheme seen as positive step to get the industry moving again. Published September 2026.
- The Telegraph, syndicated by AOL. Housebuilders get £2bn bounce from Burnham's new Help to Buy scheme. Published 28 September 2026.
- Construction Wave. Built on sand: caution after UK housebuilder shares jump 15%. Published 28 September 2026.
Qualifications that put you in front of the work
Pick the one that matches the job you already do.
NVQ Level 6 Construction Site Management, Residential Development
For experienced residential site managers running housing schemes.
Learn more
NVQ Level 3 Occupational Work Supervision
For experienced trade supervisors running a gang on site.
Learn morePrices correct at the time of publication. All enrolments are subject to eligibility screening.