Property industry to help first-time buyers
Wednesday, 16 February 2011 2:01 PM
Housing minister Grant Shapps is calling on key players in the UK housing industry to work more closely together to help first-time buyers get a foot on the property ladder.
At a summit held yesterday, Shapps united house builders, mortgage lenders, insurers, councils and consumer groups for a debate on how efforts to aid young people in purchasing their own home could be increased.
In light of the discussion, he pledged to work with homebuilders and lenders to better understand the current barriers to the availability of mortgages.
Shapps also said that he encouraged mortgage products that specifically address the challenges faced by first-time buyers, such as schemes to help parents support their children into home ownership. Creative approaches to shared ownership were also praised.
A key issue to emerge from the meeting was that a communication problem exists between different sectors of the housing industry.
Speaking after the summit, Shapps suggested that improved inter-sector relations would be vital to helping Britain's first-time buyers.
He added: "The government is working with industry to improve the availability of mortgages - but there also needs to be a much more unified effort from across the board to work together, so we can ensure that young people are not locked out of the housing market."
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