Home Ownership: First-time Buyers

Baroness Thornhill Excerpts

Monday 22nd June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord for all the work he did on the Older People’s Housing Taskforce, which we will be producing our response to. The Government are committed to enhancing provision and choice for older people in the housing market through freeing up other homes. The new home-buying and selling process will reduce the friction that sometimes occurs and creates barriers to moving. The better upfront information it provides will support households to ensure that the home meets accessibility needs, for example, and that hidden costs, which often really concern older buyers, will be transparent right from the start.

[Baroness Thornhill (LD)]

My Lords, shared ownership promised a real lifeline for first-time buyers to get them on to the property ladder, yet soaring service charges, crushing maintenance bills and toxic lease clauses are trapping families in unsaleable, unmortgageable nightmares: I exaggerate not. What urgent steps are the Government taking to rescue and reform this scheme and protect hard-working buyers from financial hardship?

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

The noble Baroness is quite right. The Government recognise that some people who entered shared ownership have faced real challenges. We have introduced new expectations for landlords to improve the customer experience, which include giving greater consideration to long-term customer affordability, making sure that there is greater transparency and fairness on costs, ensuring that fees do not generate a profit and giving customers the ability to opt out of fees for optional services, which often was not pointed out. We are continuing to consider what more can be done to improve that experience for all our shared owners.