Number of first time buyers plummets

According to recent figures the number of first time buyers taking their first steps onto the property ladder has plummeted, with factors such as lack of affordability, lack of mortgage availability, and fears over continued house price falls affecting the decision or ability of many non-homeowners to get onto the property ladder.

Officials fear that with the first time buyer market drying up this is going to bring the wheels of motion in the housing market to a grinding halt, with those further up the chain unable to sell up and move on. Figures show that in 1999 around 600,000 first time buyers took the plunge but last year this figure plunged to just 358,000.

An official from the CML saw this as a mortgage supply problem rather than lack of demand. She said: “We don’t see this as a demand-led reduction but a funding problem. At the moment it’s still seen as very much a supply-side problem.”

Another industry official stated: “Affordability was beginning to bite before we had the trigger of the credit crunch. In the short term, the demand factors will dominate. People are not in a position to buy and that’s likely to be the case for some time.”