Labour has made its pledge to ramp up assistance to first time buyers and increase home ownership levels by one million by 2010 one of the first priorities of its third term. At the time of going to press it was due to announce details of a raft of shared equity initiatives which will enable first home buyers to buy shares in their homes of between 50% and 75%, with the remainder being funded by the Treasury, banks or commercial housebuilders – up to 3% of which would be paid in "rent" by the buyer. <p></p><p>The government is understood to have been holding discussions with the Council of Mortgage Lenders for some months on the model, which is estimated to effect around 100,000 purchasers. Chancellor Gordon Brown said: "This means that people who couldn’t afford the full price of a home can gradually ramp up their stake. It’s putting home ownership within the reach of thousands of people who would not be able to do so." </p><p>A number of housebuilders, including Linden and Barratt, are already working on low cost housing schemes of their own that do not require government subsidy. Barratt group chief executive David Pretty explained: "Under our …