Peter Rollings commenting following this morning's lending figures from the CML
"Demand from buyers is still extremely strong. Already in 2010, we’ve seen over 500 new buyers enter the market and, across the country, the onus will be on lenders to ensure mortgage funding is made available to meet this demand. Boosting activity levels and transactions is crucial to the property market recovery.
"It’s clear first time buyers are still not receiving the support they need from lenders and the average first timer is having to pull together an even larger deposit than twelve months ago (25% compared to 17%). In areas such as London, where house prices are higher, lenders’ requirements mean homeownership is out of reach for the vast majority. A first time buyer hoping to purchase an average home in the capital would need to pull together a typical deposit of over £81,000 – clearly unattainable without the most generous of parental assistance. Much more needs to be done to ease the plight of first time buyers – who are vital to the long-term health of the market - by offering fairer home loan rates, that better reflect historically low interest rates."
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