First ever government-backed mortgage indemnity scheme set to launch in March

Shape it is only new build, I would consider depositing 3.5 percent of a
property’s value with a lender for a few years if it helped us get a good sale.

It's a stupid idea, it's just designed to benefit developers not first time buyers.  Any first time buyer going into this will be trapped in negative equity.  The properties are overvalued new builds in a falling market, that 5% deposit will evaporate instantly.  What happens when they need to move to a bigger house and prices have fallen 15-20%?

For once we seem to be able to agree of something! The cost to the developer is insignificant compared to the discounts they are offering to property clubs to attract investors. All this will do is use first time buyers to provide higher comparible sale prices.

I was going to say the same thing Mark.
brit1164 has at last said something correct
Being a total cynic govt intervention would support shareholder value in building companies and I'm sure the condems have some chums in the housebuilding world.
So effectively some state subsidy to support share values; I'm sure us taxpayers are highly delighted we arte being used for supporting incorrectly valued new-build property.
Just think of all those expensive landbanks the housebuilders have built up and they won't build on because they want to make more profit.
There is more than enough places for properety to be built; it is just the housebuilders refusing to build.
The land was purchased at a time when they expected to sell property at 2008 prices.
There has been a paradigm shift in the housing market; largely led by a massive reduction in the availabilility in credit.
The revised downward lending criteria will force prices down to the extent that new-builds will be of little value until the 1st purchaser has taken the hit then it will revert to true value and the puchaser will have lost about £400000..
Even if one wanted to buy a new-build the lending criteria is so onerous that nobody will be able to buy anyway.
The only reason property values haven't dropped by about £400000 each is low interest rates and people refusing to sell at a loss, some of whom can't sell as they have negative equity.
So they become 'accidental landlords' and will remain so until the negative equity restores itself to hopefully positive equity.
Futher downward pressure will occur if EU BTL regulation comes in and LL have to offload property they cannot remortgage and no new BTL purchasing will occur unless the LL is very, very rich.
If the lenders come up with a work around then the EU regulation may not actually afrect LL.
It would put off the average first timer or small LL who won't wish to bother with any work around procedures; this will have a further depressive effect on the housing market.
No what the govt should be doing is putting the country to work with a massive social house building campaign, effectively restoring the 'family silver' in the form of council housing stock that was so disasterously sold off by Thatcher.
Once built the housing should go to those at the top of the list and NOT those in greater housing need.
This would restore fairness to the social housing scene which for years since Labour introduced the 'housing need 'concept' has effectively excluded poeple who went on the 'list' and have found themselves continually queue jumped by your Romanian gypsy with 4 kids, your Somalian alleged refugee,
your eastern european economic migrant.
All the houses should be built by BRITISH workers, no cheap eastern european labour.
Eventually the govt will get payback in the form of lower housing benefit payments and the only people who would suffer from a restoration in social housing are LL in the LHA sector.
I wouldn't object to that occurring!