Whilst some will argue it wasn’t ever needed, it seems to me that the sector is in fact well on the road to ‘rehabilitation’ in the eyes of both the lender community and consumers.

There is also now widespread recognition that the sector is a critical component of the housing market and wider economy, acting as a job creation scheme and providing business to a myriad of related supplier businesses and trades.

This is one of the reasons the Government has given the sector some specific aid in the form of the Newbuy Scheme.

A guarantee to underwrite potential losses on hypothetical repossessions that effectively translates into the opportunity for borrowers to purchase with just a 5% deposit – something which is almost unheard of in today’s wider mortgage famine.

Developers are required to sequester 3.5% of sale price for a period of 7 years as their part of the deal and by and large seem happy to do so.

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Most developers I have spoken with welcome the scheme, though there is consensus that at this point, the number of actual transactions remains very low.

I would estimate that less than 400 deals exist at this point, based on the number of related valuations we have seen. However, oaks and acorns etc. spring to mind.

Less positively, we’re aware of a more concerning response to the scheme which, were it to become more widespread would pretty much destroy confidence overnight.

This involved a prospective purchaser agreeing a price for a new build. However, when subsequently advising the sales office that the purchase would be funded with a NewBuy product, they were then told the price was to be 3.5% higher.

Cue lots of flustered PR activity to confirm ‘that was not what was meant’. Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt and more importantly hope it proves to be a one off.

Richard Sexton is director of business development at e.surv