A 2.5% deposit scheme, leasehold legislation and council powers over poor rentals set the agenda for first-time buyer and landlord advice
Prime minister Andy Burnham has put housing at the heart of his first Labour Party conference speech. He confirmed a 2.5% deposit route for first-time buyers, a leasehold reform Bill before Christmas and new council powers to take over neglected rental homes. The package is set to reshape the mortgage market over the next 12 months.
Burnham addressed delegates in Liverpool on Tuesday, 10 weeks after entering Downing Street. In the prime minister's speech, he framed home ownership as a promise his parents' generation enjoyed and today's young adults have lost.
"I want to get back to a Britain where young people starting out are able to buy a home like my mum and dad did. Like I did."
What did Burnham promise first-time buyers?
The centrepiece is Your First Home, which the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) trailed three days before the speech. Buyers purchasing a new-build home in England from a participating developer would need a 2.5% deposit, supported by a 20% government-backed equity loan with an initial interest-free period. A household income cap and local property price caps will apply. The government has said the detail will follow at next month's Budget.
"Your First Home will reduce the size of the deposit you need," Burnham said. "It will open up home ownership to those not backed by the bank of mum and dad."
Industry reaction has been warm but conditional. Nicholas Mendes, mortgage technical manager at John Charcol, said the deposit "remains the single biggest barrier to getting onto the ladder". Paul Turner, chief executive of the National House Building Council, called the scheme "a welcome boost for the industry". He added that supply also needed attention through faster planning reform.
On the published figures, a buyer would need a mortgage covering 77.5% of the purchase price. Lender appetite and how the equity loan is treated in affordability assessments remain unknown until the Budget. Early industry reaction to the Your First Home scheme's launch has focused on exactly that detail.
How will landlords and leaseholders be affected?
Burnham took a harder line on the worst end of the private rented sector. He singled out absentee landlords who receive rent through the benefits system but fail to maintain their homes.
"Landlords who rent out the worst quality homes will be given warnings to improve them," he said. "If they refuse, we will make it much easier for councils to acquire those homes and we will legislate if necessary."
Timothy Douglas, head of policy and campaigns at Propertymark, said the proposals left open questions. These included how remedial work would be carried out with a tenant in situ and who would manage homes that passed into council control. He also pointed to the Register Your Rental Property Service, which is set to be introduced for landlords from December.
"The focus should be on making better use of existing tools rather than simply adding another layer of legislation and potentially damaging relationships between good landlords and government," he said.
None of the acquisition powers has yet been legislated. Even so, landlords holding older or poorly maintained stock face a new layer of risk on top of the Renters' Rights Act, which came into force on 1 May. Brokers have been preparing clients for this since Burnham's arrival put buy-to-let landlords on alert in July.
Leaseholders were promised a Bill before Christmas.
"To the millions of leaseholders across the country, you have my word," Burnham said. "The days of you being squeezed for every penny are coming to an end."
The pledge followed housing secretary Angela Rayner's plans to cap leasehold permission fees and regulate property agents, set out earlier the same day. Clearer rules on charges could ease some of the friction that leasehold terms create in flat purchases and remortgages.
What does it mean for the wider mortgage market?
Burnham also used the speech to reassure markets on the public finances. That matters to anyone tracking gilt yields and swap rates, which feed through to fixed-rate mortgage pricing.
"I would love to go quicker," he said. "But I have to be honest about what the country can afford. I will stick to our fiscal rules to get borrowing and debt down."
He also confirmed plans for a National Care Service in the next Parliament, which he said would protect people's homes and savings. With the Budget due next month, brokers can expect the scheme criteria, the leasehold Bill and the landlord powers to dominate client conversations into 2027.
Burnham closed the housing section of his speech by casting the programme as a break with four decades of policy.
"Conference, this is the break we are making with the flawed thinking of the last 40 years," he said. "Not seeing housing only as a market with winners and losers, but as an essential everyone needs for a good life."
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