Government 'has failed' first time buyers

14-Jun-2007

The provision of affordable housing over the course of the last 40 years has been a failure, according to a new survey, with 40 per cent of first time buyers having never even heard of the term.

Those are the findings of a new study by What House?, which found that under 15 per cent of the first time buyers who were aware of the scheme were aware of whether they qualified for such initiatives.

Schemes such as buying a home for less than its market value or entering into shared-ownership agreements should be open to anyone earning the minimum wage or less, according to 60 per cent of respondents.

"Affordable housing is clearly a massive issue, for which the government needs to seriously rethink its communications strategy. The affordable housing concept was introduced around 40 years ago, but in terms of mass awareness, it has by no means been a success," commented What House? editor Sarah Speight.

First time buyers were recently cautioned against assuming that 100 per cent or higher mortgages were an easy answer to their buying difficulties.

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