Lenders are not doing enough to help first-time buyers get onto the property ladder, according to mortgage broker, Mortgage Talk Direct.
The claim follows the release of statistics from Egg, the internet bank, stating the average deposit for first-time buyers has quadrupled since 1996, and continues to rise at 7% per year, resulting in the average age of a first-time buyer in 2001 being 34.
The broker said that many lenders are still subscribing to the principle that the bigger the deposit the better the mortgage deal, with the result that first-time buyers are being neglected in the marketplace. This is discouraging first-time buyers and thus distorting the market as the pool of first-time buyers starts to shrink.
Andy Frankish, director of Mortgage Talk Direct, said: ‘The time has come for lenders to do more to nurture first-time buyers with better starter rates of interest and less paperwork. Unless building societies and banks come up with schemes that actively encourage home ownership, there is a danger that we will end up with fewer people able to afford their own property. We are already seeing signs that offers from second-time buyers are being chosen in preference to first-timers because of the hefty deposits they have available, thanks to recent house price rises.’
