400 people reserved new homes through the NewBuy mortgage guarantee scheme in its first nine weeks according to the Home Builders Federation. But the news comes as government statistics reveal a 15% drop in housing starts in the first three months of this year compared to last year. Just 24,140 new homes were started in England in the period, of which 20,080 were private enterprise (7% down). The HBF says that around 60,000 starts per quarter are needed to meet housing demand.<br> <br> HBF executive chairman Stewart Baseley said: "Reaching 400 NewBuy reservations within weeks of its launch is a fantastic start and clearly demonstrates the customer demand for this vital scheme. These figures make us very confident that the scheme will deliver tens of thousands of sales over the coming years."<br> <br> "As the housebuilding statistics show, we have an acute housing delivery problem. By enabling home buyers to purchase a new home, NewBuy will kickstart new home construction, creating economic growth and thousands of jobs across the country."<br> <br> NewBuy – an industry funded government backed mortgage indemnity scheme –was launched in March and allows buyers to secure their new build home with a 5% deposit.<br> <br> Last …