A new £4.7bn government scheme will help 70,000 households on to the property ladder and save first-time buyers “hundreds of pounds a month”, the chancellor, John Healey, said on Wednesday.

Last month, Andy Burnham announced Your First Home , which aims to give a helping hand to first-time buyers in England who do not have access to the “bank of mum and dad”, and Healey revealed in his first budget how the scheme would work, including who would be eligible.

Isn’t there already a scheme like this called help to buy?

You could argue Your First Home (YFH) is effectively an updated version of the Conservatives’ flagship help to buy scheme, which ended in 2023.

YFH applies to England only and is just for prospective first-time buyers hoping to buy a new-build flat or house.

Those taking part, who buy a home from a participating developer, will be offered a government-backed “equity loan” worth 20% of the purchase price.…