Bellway warns Burnham's Your First Home scheme risks slowing housing market before it even launches

Bellway chief executive Jason Honeyman told shareholders the government's revived Help to Buy scheme, Your First Home, risks causing buyers to delay purchases while they wait for it to launch. Honeyman said customer demand is already "constrained by affordability pressures" with mortgage rates above prior-year levels after the Iran war drove rates higher. The FTSE 250 housebuilder called the scheme a "welcome development" but warned housebuilders are still awaiting "further detail on the scope, design and timing" before they can plan accordingly.

Your First Home will give first-time buyers access to a 20 per cent equity loan, requiring just a 2.5 per cent deposit and carrying no interest for an initial period.

Burnham has pitched the scheme as a lifeline for young buyers who cannot rely on the 'bank of mum and dad' to get on the ladder.

Listed housebuilder shares jumped on the announcement, though economists have cautioned that any market uplift may take time to materialise.