The Government is set to offer “a raft” of measures for homebuyers in the upcoming budget, the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG) confirmed to Mortgage Solutions.
The move reported in a Guardian story today is expected to help those in negative equity or struggling to raise a big enough deposit to buy as ONS figures show homeownership in the UK has plummeted to 65%.
This is the latest government move after housing minister Mark Prisk launched NewBuy part-exchange in January this year, which is currently only available for the first six months of 2013.
The current scheme enables homebuyers to purchase a new-build home with a deposit of 5% of the property value with 20% of the property’s value eventually underwritten by a private sector-government partnership.
A survey by Lloyds TSB earlier this month found 61% of second steppers have been stuck on the property ladder for 12 months and 20% now believe it is harder to move up the ladder than to get on it in the first place.
The pressure is building for some silver bullets from Chancellor George Osborne ahead of the budget to deliver both growth and infrastructural spending to boost employment and solve the housing crisis.
The Liberal Democrat Tory coalition voted down Labour’s motion yesterday to introduce a Mansion tax on all properties over £2m yesterday, despite the fact this was originally a Liveral Democrat proposal.
