A government review has found that the Help-to-Buy scheme contributed £25 billion in social value to the UK during the last financial year, even as it faced criticism for being costly and potentially driving up house prices. The findings support calls from senior officials, including housing minister Matthew Pennycook, who have advocated for a new version of the scheme to increase home ownership among younger voters. However, Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who prioritized increasing housing supply, overruled these calls, despite pressure from Pennycook and former housing secretary Steve Reed. The report highlights that the Help-to-Buy scheme helped expand home ownership, particularly in areas where housing was already relatively affordable. It enabled some people to get on the property ladder earlier or purchase homes they might not otherwise have been able to afford. Others used the scheme to skip a step on the housing ladder and move directly to larger or more expensive homes. While the scheme achieved its main goal of supporting home ownership, the report did not assess its impact on house prices. According to the findings, over 387,000 people bought homes through the scheme, with more than 328,000 being first-time buyers. Nearly half of these buyers said they would not have been able to afford a home without the scheme. A government spokesperson confirmed there are no current plans to launch a new Help-to-Buy initiative, but emphasized the need to learn from the previous scheme's successes and challenges. Both the current prime minister, Andy Burnham, and his predecessor, Keir Starmer, have focused on increasing housing supply to address the UK's housing crisis. Starmer pledged to build 1.5 million new homes during this parliamentary term, although housing secretary Angela Rayner acknowledged the goal may be challenging. The government has so far concentrated on boosting supply, committing £39 billion to new social and affordable homes and introducing planning reforms to encourage housebuilders. Unlike the Conservatives, who introduced the Help-to-Buy scheme in 2013 and again in 2021, Labour has not launched a similar initiative to subsidize first-time buyers. The original scheme provided taxpayer-backed loans to reduce the deposit needed, while the second covered part of lenders' losses on mortgages with high loan-to-value ratios. Both versions applied to homes worth up to £600,000 and supported about a fifth of first-time buyer purchases by 2014-15. Despite their popularity, the schemes faced criticism for mainly helping those who would have otherwise bought homes and potentially inflating house prices. Research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies found that much of the benefit went to higher earners, particularly those outside London and the south-east of England. However, some officials had pushed to recreate the scheme this year, with Reed focusing on helping those who would not otherwise be able to afford a home, especially in areas where the housing market has recently cooled. Ideas such as a government-backed equity loan were proposed by the Home Builders Federation, but were reportedly rejected by Reeves, who favored focusing on planning reforms to boost development. A spokesperson for John Healey did not comment on the new chancellor's views.