While welcoming any measures to help first-time buyers, Labour’s Mark Griffin raised concerns that the relaunched First Homes Fund could artificially raise house prices.
Reform’s Thomas Kerr called the scheme a “gimmick” which would not “scratch the surface” of tackling the housing crisis.
Green MSP Ariane Burgess warned evidence from previous help-to-buy schemes suggested that they made properties “less not more affordable”, and that they benefited better-off buyers.
Tory MSP Meghan Gallacher noted that nearly seven in 10 of successful applicants to the government’s previous First Home Fund had household income above the national average.
To tackle the housing crisis, she called for the government to abolish Scotland’s version of stamp duty, the Land and Buildings Transaction Tax, paid on house purchases.
Willie Rennie of the Liberal Democrats also cited concerns about the fund being a “subsidy for those who can already afford to buy their own home”, and asked for reassurances that would not happen.
Somerville said the government had learned lessons from previous schemes, noting the maximum house price cap.
She said ministers aimed to ensure that the programmed helped “the people who need it most”.
