Speaking at Mortgage Intelligence’s annual conference, Charles Haresnape, managing director of Bank of Scotland, said the group believed this market would no longer be a ‘sideshow’ as affordability concerns, especially for first-time buyers (FTBs), meant people looked for other ways to get onto the property ladder.
He also called for the government’s HomeBuy scheme to be more accessible to the rest of the FTB market, rather than just concentrating on a certain area of key workers.
“No one is doing equity share properly at the moment. This is no longer a sideshow and we have a team of people working to help FTBs with this kind of product. We are going to do more with equity share products in the future but schemes such as HomeBuy must be more accessible to the rest of the FTB market.”
Simon Chalk, mortgage planner at Mortgage Portfolio Services, believed it was a good move for the sector.
“The market needs a heavyweight in it, so to have HBOS say these things does bolster the sector. However, it is a small pond to fish in as regardless of affordability, people don’t want to give away any of the value of their property. It has got a place, though, for people who desperately want to get on the housing ladder.”
Haresnape also outlined plans for Bank of Scotland Mortgages to expand its Personal Choice range into the buy-to-let market, with the lender aiming to go live in the first quarter of 2007.
Haresnape added: “We have Personal Choice as a standalone product and for self-certification so buy-to-let is the missing element we are looking at. In the buy-to-let mortgage market, it is important to have equity available as you want to move fast when you find the right property and Personal Choice gives the client flexibility to do just that.”
