First time buyers 'risking extinction'

31-Oct-2007

The New Homes Marketing Board (NHMB) has said that the problems faced by first time buyers are now so great that the demographic risks becoming an endangered species.

However, according to the NMHB such difficulties have not quenched buyers' desire to purchase a property of their own, a theory which in part explains the rise of innovative schemes such as shared equity and joint ownership mortgages.

A YouGov poll for the NMHB has suggested that the continental preference for rental accommodation will not make its way over to the UK's shores any time soon.

Just eight per cent of the population would be happy renting a property for their entire life, the study found, with those under 35 especially eager to enter the owner-occupation sector.

"Our polls already show that most people understand that the difficulties faced by first-time buyers is turning them into an endangered species and actually amounts to a serious social problem. Now we see that the alternative – a lifetime condemned to renting – fills most people with dread," noted David Pretty, chairman of the NHMB.

"I also believe that such an important issue needs all-party consensus particularly as whoever is in power is going to have to tackle the same big problems of housing supply and are likely to find the solutions are going to be similar.

This issue is too pressing to ignore, and too important to be a political football," Mr Pretty added.

The number of new buyer enquiries fell for the tenth month in a row in September, according to research from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.


Mortgage approvals down again in September
http://www.firstrungnow.com/first-time-buyer-news/mortgage-approvals-down-3582.aspx


FTBs struggle as mortgage applications slump
http://www.firstrungnow.com/first-time-buyer-news/ftbs-struggle-as-mortgage-3573.aspx

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