Housing: Construction
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions his Department has had with HM Treasury about potential measures to support demand for SME-led housing.
Answered by Matthew Pennycook
My Department has no current plans to make such an assessment.
The Help to Build: Equity Loan scheme, targeted at those wanting to custom build, self build or shell build a home, opened in June 2022 and closed to new applications in March 2025. There are no plans to allocate further funding to it.
The government has introduced a new, permanent Mortgage Guarantee Scheme, available to support and sustain availability of low deposit mortgage products for prospective buyers. Additionally, the Bank of England is easing the loan-to-income limit, enabling up to 36,000 additional first-time buyers in the first year. The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) ongoing review of the mortgage market means many buyers can now borrow 10% more towards a property purchase. The government looks forward to ambitious proposals from the FCA’s paper. First-time buyers may also benefit from home ownership initiatives offered at the local level.
We have also provided £3 billion of additional support for SMEs and the Build to Rent sector, in the form of housing guarantee schemes.
My Department has regular discussions with HM Treasury on a range of issues including measures to support SMEs.
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