Banks and building societies have stopped offering high loan-to-value mortgages.
This has hit first-time buyers particularly hard; a lot of them need to borrow in excess of the value of their home to cover moving costs, fees and Stamp Duty, and this could easily have an impact on first-time buyer activity in the housing market.
Reduced levels of first-time buyer activity is in nobody’s interest – abolishing Stamp Duty to give them some financial relief would shore up the wider market.
Alistair Darling cannot afford to ignore the effect the credit crunch has had on first-time buyers’ ability to borrow. He must act now if he is to resuscitate the housing market. If first-time buyers were given a break from Stamp Duty, the surplus costs involved in their purchase of a home would drop dramatically.
For this reason I am calling on the Chancellor to give first-time buyers a Stamp Duty holiday – he must raise the threshold to £250,000.
David Newnes
Managing director
Your Move
