3
Sep
Government policies 'should help first-time buyers'
First-time buyers should be the main beneficiaries of the
government's new housing policies announced yesterday, industry
stakeholders have said.
As well as chancellor Alistair Darling's announcement on stamp
duty, the government revealed it would provide help in the form of
interest-free loans for up to 30 per cent of the cost of new homes
for first-time buyers.
Commenting on this, the director general of the Council of Mortgage
Lenders Michael Coogan said: "The new shared equity product to help
first-time buyers will be useful for a particular tranche of
would-be home-owners who genuinely wish to enter the market
now."
He also said the stamp duty move would help some, although it still
left half of transactions attracting the tax.
Giving his reaction to the measures, the chief executive of the
National Association of Estate Agents Peter Bolton King said it was
"encouraging" that the government has seen that it is a multiple
number of issues that need to be addressed to boost the
market.
