Almost 80% of Britons want a national savings scheme, enabling first time buyers to save up the deposit for a new home, according to a YouGov survey carried out for the New Homes Marketing Board (NHMB). For the past three years, NHMB’s chairman David Pretty has been calling on the government to introduce the scheme which would enable savers to raise up to £30,000 within five years, after which they would receive a 25% tax-free bonus. The bonus would give the saver up to £37,500 to spend on a 20% deposit for a new home as well as stamp duty, legal fees and other costs. “Such a scheme would not only be a great boost for beleaguered first time buyers, but would encourage and reward a return to good old fashioned saving habits – something we need now that the days of easy credit have gone,” Pretty explained. Pretty has said previously that the scheme would “not be expensive to the public purse” and there were various ways in which the scheme could operate. <br>