Rents rise as young first-time buyers struggle to get a foot on the UK property ladder, but there is help available

In a recent government White Paper, the Housing Minister, Gavin Barwell, stated that the housing market was “broken”. With 70% of first-time buyers take at least two years to save deposit and a quarter save for five to ten years, combined with a huge shortage, more and more youngsters are living with their parents into their 30’s.

 Gavin Barwell, Housing Minister

Some first-time buyers are saving for ten years just to put a deposit down on a home, new research revealed this week. In that time, average house prices have doubled in the South East of England, with the upward trend expected to continue as demand outstrips supply.

Three in got help from the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ through gifted deposits often raised by remortgaging their paid for homes. This may be contributing to the growing trend of people working beyond the state retirement age of 65. A recent study revealed that 1.2 million over-65’s are still working – double the number in the workforce in 2006.

Other can access various loans and shared equity schemes to help buyers stake their claim in the ever growing property market.

Buyers should also look at other options early, such as guarantor mortgages or equity sharing , as this could eliminate the need to save for so long.

The population has been increasing by around 500,000 each year, due to a combination of immigration, rising birth rates and falling death rates.  We all know that people are living longer and some estimate the country needs to build over 300,000 homes a year to cope with current demand.

To stem the tide of rising rents, the government has introduced new taxes on landlords and property investor, including a 3% hike in stamp duty on second homes. Despite this, rents have risen ironically making it cheaper to own a property with a mortgage than renting, in part due to record low interest rates – a leading mortgage lender announced a fixed rate loan of just .99% last week.

David Blake, of Which? Mortgage Advisers, which carried out the survey, told the Sun that anyone saving to buy a first home should know the options.

He said: “Given how hard it can be to get on to the property ladder, ensuring you get the right mortgage could not be more important.

“Seeking out independent mortgage advice early on is vital.”

There are schemes to help first-time buyers, including  the government-backed Help To Buy loans, shared equity schemes with builders and shared ownership schemes run by housing associations. 

Mortgage lenders have also developed products for this group, such as guarantor mortgages or 95 per cent loan-to-value mortgages.

The Help To Buy equity loan scheme, reduces the required deposit to five per cent and has an interest-free loan for a further 20 per cent from the Government. The scheme is for buying new-build properties in England worth up to £600,000.

Since the banking crisis of 2008, mortgage lenders have been far more cautious making it harder to borrow to buy a house.  More innovation is needed in the mortgage market, which has remained largely unchanged since the age of quill pens. For instance, why can’t mortgages be transferred or properties sold with a mortgage, as happens in America?

In Japan, lender grant 99 year mortgages and parents can pass on their homes to children with the existing mortgage intact and without the need to redeem the loan and apply for a new loan and pay charges.

Put down one fifth of the price of a property, the bank lend your four fifths and the tenant pays off 100% of the loan

A lifelong fixed rate interest only mortgage loan would be far cheaper than renting and the low rates would enable first-time buyers to borrow much more than the traditional ‘3 x salary’ multiples, which were about the same when interest rates were at a crippling 16% when I bought my first flat.

The Housing Minister admits that successive governments have failed to build enough new houses or commission the building of affordable council houses following the mass 'right-to-buy' sell off in the 1980's and 90's. The lack of local authority housing opened the door for private landlords and the 20 year buy-to-let boom.

Many investment experts claim that the stock market offers the best returns, but where else can you use 80% leverage or loans to purchase investments which gives a healthy yield and capital growth over the longer term? 

Put another way, will your bank lend you £80,000 to buy shares or even their own managed unit trusts and pension funds? To save you time and embarrassment from being laughed out of the bank, I'll give you the answer: "NO"! Why? Because it's too "risky" they will say. Try asking them.

Too risky for them to lend on, but not for their financial advisers to sell you to save for your retirement! They will lend on property on a buy-to-let investment. 

You pay one fifth of the price of a property, the bank lend your four fifths and the tenant pays off 100% of the loan.

The UK is an attractive place to work, start a business or buy property - even with no money down, with no restrictions on foreign buyers and a vibrant mortgage market with record low interest rates. Leading economists predict that, despite Brexit, house prices will continue rising due to shortages of stock and strong demand in the rental sector.

If you would like to learn more about investing in UK property, I have a limited number of complimentary tickets to a LIVE EVENT  - Beginners Property Course (held in the UK), which will give you the basic knowledge and techniques to get started. If you are interest, email me your full name and telephone number to charles@charleskelly.net.
See also:

Fines issued to landlords under right-to-rent offences

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