Cameron unveils 20% discounts for young first-time buyers

Ahead of the Conservative Party conference this week, the prime minister announced the proposals, which would exempt developers from section 106 affordable housing requirements and be available only to the under-40s.

The plans, to be included in the Conservative manifesto, would involve building the 100,000 new homes on brownfield sites identified for development

The 20% discount on the new homes will partly be achieved by exempting the homes from ‘a raft of taxes’, such as the community infrastructure levy.

David Cameron said it built on the Help to Buy mortgage programme, the government guarantee scheme that allows home buyers to purchase a property with as little as a 5% deposit.

New homes built under the programme would also be exempt from zero-carbon requirements.

Only English first-time buyers will be eligible for the scheme, which includes measures to claw back the 20% discount if the homes are sold within five years.

Mr Cameron said: ‘We want to help more young people achieve the dream of home ownership, so today I can pledge we will build 100,000 homes for young, first-time buyers.

‘We will make these starter homes 20% cheaper by exempting them from a raft of taxes and by using brownfield land.

‘I don’t want to see young people locked out of home ownership. We’ve already started to tackle the problem with Help to Buy mortgages – and these new plans will help tens of thousands more people to buy their first home.’

Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter, welcomed the prime minister giving the housing shortage the ‘attention it deserves’.

But he added: ‘There’s a real concern that removing the requirement on developers to build affordable housing means this policy may not help those facing the greatest struggle to get a home of their own.’

Emma Reynolds, shadow housing minister, described the Conservative scheme ‘yet another piecemeal measure [which] will fail to get Britain building the homes our nation needs’.

Opposition leader Ed Miliband last week included housing in his six key goals for a future Labour government.

He pledged to double the number of first-time buyers getting on to the housing ladder each year, promising to restore ‘the dream of homeownership’ to households locked out of the market.