First time buyers 'should receive mortgage tax relief'

28-Jun-2007

The mortgage interest relief at source (Miras) tax scheme should be brought back in order to help first time buyers, a leading industry figure has advised.

Home Builders Federation (HBF) chairman David Pretty has said that the scheme, abolished by Labour in 2001, should return along with tax relief for parents who provide financial assistance to their children when it comes to buying a home.

However, speaking to the Times, Mr Pretty advised that such changes should only be brought in once there had been a noticeable increase in the supply of new homes.

"First-time buyers are the new poor. They are having the worst time in living memory. There are a large number of well-educated, hard-working young people who are being consigned to renting," the HBF chair told the newspaper.

The comments come as a New Statesman columnist has suggested that limiting the UK's population was the only way to stop urban overcrowding.

To find out about those mortgages specifically aimed at first time buyers, see our best buys for first time buyers table.

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