First-time buyers faring better north of the border

04-Jun-2008

First-time buyers in Scotland are faring best in the mortgage market during the credit crunch, it has been claimed.

According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), loans for house purchase there were down just a fifth during the first quarter of this year compared to last year, while the overall UK drop was 40 per cent.

During the same period, Scotland's share of all loans for house purchase in the UK reportedly rose to 11 per cent from eight per cent a year ago.

Kennedy Foster, the CML's Scotland policy consultant, suggested that the slowdown has not been as great north of the border because houses there remain "comparatively affordable".

"Borrowers have been less affected by the tightening in lending criteria," he added.

Estimating that the country's proposed £2,000 first-time buyer grants will cost £70 million a year, he continued: "The Scottish government could help to underpin confidence at this uncertain time by increasing their investment in both the new-build and Open Market HomeStake schemes."

Data released last month indicated that an increasing number of first-time buyers across the UK are pooling their resources to secure a mortgage during the credit crunch, with dual-income applications accounting for around 44.79 per cent of the first-time buyer market at the beginning of May.

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