Rebuilding the foundations of Homeownership by Shane Bray

Across the country, young people are grappling with a stark reality: the dream of homeownership, once an attainable goal for their parents and grandparents, now feels more like a fantasy. For many, the thought of owning a home has been replaced by the expectation of permanent renting. Conversations with young professionals often reveal deep frustration, a sense of hopelessness, and resignation that they’ll never be able to buy a place of their own. What was once a rite of passage—buying your first home—is now a privilege largely reserved for those with significant financial help from family, I see it first hand in my day job, we would make far fewer sales to first-time buyers if it weren’t for some form of parental wealth. You don’t just have to take my word for it though; the figures also bear this truth.

Today, over half of first-time buyers rely on assistance from the so-called “Bank of Mum and Dad,” and the sums involved are substantial. In 2024, family support for home purchases averaged between £55,000 and £118,000 depending on region and household income. In London, the figure ballooned to around £225,000 for supported buyers—compared to £150,000 for those without help. This rising dependence on parental wealth is entrenching inequality and eroding social mobility, creating a housing system where your chances of homeownership are increasingly determined by the financial position of your parents, not your own hard work or aspirations. It’s grossly unfair on those who do not have this advantage and some young Britons must be looking at their peers and must be wondering where they are going wrong? The answer in many cases is that they simply weren’t born to parents who are in position to help.

While government schemes such as Lifetime ISAs and Help-to-Buy ISAs were introduced to assist first-time buyers, their impact has been modest at best and, in some cases, counterproductive. The Lifetime ISA offers a 25% government bonus on savings, up to £4,000 a year, but recent figures reveal that the scheme is more often used incorrectly than as intended. In 2024, nearly 100,000 people withdrew funds from their LISAs for reasons other than buying a first home—triggering penalty fees that in some cases claw back part of their own savings. In contrast, only around 56,900 people successfully used a LISA to purchase a home in the same period. A Treasury Committee report criticized the scheme for being overly complex, penalising savers unfairly, and failing to meet the needs of the very people it was designed to help. It’s also increasingly clear that the property price cap of £450,000 is outdated and unrealistic, especially for those living in London and the South East.

Help-to-Buy ISAs, now closed to new applicants, also suffered from limitations—offering small bonuses, inflexible terms, and a lack of relevance in today’s market. Meanwhile, shared ownership schemes, which allow buyers to purchase a share of a home and rent the rest, remain only a halfway house, literally! They are often criticised for offering poor long-term value and being potentially difficult to sell later on. Help-to-Buy Equity Loans, which offered interest-free government loans for new builds, were limited to certain types of properties and left many buyers with inflated debt and complications when trying to move or sell.

The truth is that none of these schemes have gone far enough. They’ve been little more than token gestures—well-meaning in theory, but lacking the boldness and scale required to reverse decades of rising property prices, stagnant wages, and an under-supplied housing market.

What’s needed is not a womb lottery, where your chances of winning are determined before you even have a name, but a radical, realistic, and economically sound solution. I propose the creation of a Great British Mortgage Company, a government-backed institution with the express aim of helping first-time buyers get on the property ladder—without needing family wealth. This company would offer 100% mortgages to individuals who meet specific criteria, just as an example this could be: those who have rented for at least two years without missing payments, are in full-time employment or have been self-employed for five or more years, have lived in the UK for at least a decade, and meet standard affordability checks.

The scheme would be capped annually and run on a first-come, first-served basis to ensure fairness and sustainability. With an initial funding pot of £20 billion, the programme could provide meaningful support to tens of thousands of first-time buyers. Limits would be set regionally to reflect local market conditions. My suggestion would be up to £250,000 in the North, £400,000 in the South, and £500,000 in London. Based on current property data, this could enable 20,000 purchases in the North, 17,500 in the South, and 16,000 in London, which would account for roughly 15.7% of first-time buyer purchases in 2024, or nearly 20% of those made in 2023.

Critically, this initiative wouldn’t just help individuals—it would have ripple effects across the broader economy. Unlike rent, which vanishes into a landlord’s pocket, mortgage payments under this scheme would return to the Treasury, generating revenue over time from both interest generated and repayment of borrowed money. The programme would also boost demand for tradespeople—plumbers, electricians, carpenters, decorators—further stimulating local economies. Homeowners tend to invest in and maintain their properties, contributing to neighbourhood stability and a stronger sense of community as well as creating jobs along the way.

Of course, there are risks. A small number of borrowers may default despite affordability checks. But in such cases, the government would be left with property assets that could be transferred to local authorities and repurposed as social housing—something sorely needed following decades of Right to Buy and underinvestment in council housing.

For context, the UK currently spends around £47 billion a year on Net Zero initiatives, the benefits of which often flow to a narrow band of companies and consultancies. It wouldn’t take even half that annual cost to implement a scheme that could transform the lives of young Britons and begin rebuilding the social contract.

The Great British Mortgage Company would be a long-term solution—not a quick fix. If set up correctly and allowed to operate consistently over time, it could become entirely self-sufficient within 20 years or less. The returns from mortgage repayments and property appreciation would repay the initial outlay and then some, creating a revolving fund capable of supporting future generations.

This is the kind of bold, aspirational policy that the country urgently needs. Not more short-term tinkering. Not more managed decline. A real, achievable pathway to ownership—one that restores hope, unlocks economic opportunity, and gives Britain’s young people a meaningful stake in their own futures.

Shane Bray manages an estate agent office in Surrey, and is interim Vice-Chair of Reform UK Godalming and Ash branch.

(Disclaimer: Any policy proposals in this article represent the views of the author only, and do not necessarily reflect current or future policy positions of the Reform UK party.)

[Photo on home page by Tierra Mallorca on Unsplash]