Commenting on the current state of the market, he said: “Homeownership is continuing to fall among young people and it is vital that government works with industry to establish a permanent solution to the first-time buyer dilemma.
“Increasingly demanding capital requirements make it ever more difficult to lend to first-time buyers without large deposits. Unless the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee evolves into a permanent feature of the market, there are legitimate concerns among the industry that the revival of first-time buyer lending will prove short-lived.
“Regulatory pressures now are firmly stacked against a mass market for high LTV loans even though these have been the bedrock for the first-time buyer market for some considerable time.
“There are a host of issues that need fixing in the housing market and politicians must seize the 2015 election as a chance to start what will be a long term project. Part of the solution must be a permanent mortgage indemnity guarantee to boost lending to first-time buyers, which will also encourage builders to maintain and improve the supply of new homes.
“We are now getting close to half way in the life of the current [H2B] scheme. In our view though recognising it has been very helpful the time for short-term sticking plasters has passed and future generations are relying on today’s political leaders to take a long-term view on how best to support high LTV loans given the regulatory changes now in place.”
