Budget 'has failed FTBs'

Last week's Budget should come as a disappointment to first-time buyers (FTBs), one leading online conveyancing firm has claimed.

The managing director of convex.net said that the chancellor should have done more for first-time buyers given that they are effectively the "foundation of the housing market".

Mr Samuel bemoaned the fact that the chancellor passed up the opportunity to abolish stamp duty for first-time buyers - something he said would have been an obvious way of relieving pressure on people who are trying to get on the property ladder.

Instead, Alistair Darling minimally revised the rules so that most people who take out shared ownership products will only have to pay stamp duty on acquiring the final 20 per cent of their property.

"The Budget could have helped all first-time buyers – those on shared-ownership schemes are only a small percentage," Mr Samuel complained. "First-time buyers … are the foundation of the housing market and should have been offered more from the Budget."

According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders, typical loan-to-value ratios for first-time buyers fell 90 per cent in January 2007 to 88 per cent this year.

News posted on 18th March, 2008