Builders want the return of Help to Buy – but Britain needs more homes first

Pushing mortgages will simply reheat a market that has stretched affordabillty to breaking point, says James Moore

More signs of a slowdown in the housing market have been visible at Crest Nicholson sites across the country (PA)

The first-time buyer needs help! So says Crest Nicholson alongside its first-half results, which showed a 22 per cent decline in revenues and a near 60 per cent fall in operating profits – the hangover from Britain’s disastrous flirtation with Trussonomics.

Meanwhile, the future is decidedly foggy; while Crest tried to sound sanguine, reiterating its confidence in hitting full-year forecasts, the market is worried and its shares took a knock. Crest’s statement came on the same day that the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) went so far as to warn of “storm clouds” ahead for the housing market.

So should the government step in? Not with the type of help Crest Nicholson is advocating.