An 18-page study produced by specialist lender Precise Mortgages, Mortgage Voice: Mapping the Mortgage Market and Meeting Market Need, showed that young adults and those nearing retirement had the most negative outlook on the housing market, with 39 per cent believing that mortgages are out of reach for first-time buyers.
Less than half, 44 per cent, of respondents who took part in the Precise survey also said that rental prices are too expensive, while 22 per cent admit they know “very little” about the government’s Help to Buy scheme.
The report also found a clear desire among renters to get on the housing ladder, with 62 per cent of all respondents saying they wanted to buy within five years and 57 per cent of those under the age of 25 sharing that dream. However, more than half, 53 per cent, accepted that mortgage lenders still favour borrowers with large deposits.
Alan Cleary, managing director of Precise Mortgages, said: “The research presents an interesting conundrum. On the one hand confidence has returned and this is being rightly celebrated across the industry, but there appears to be a delay in this buoyancy filtering down to the consumer.”
He said that while, ultimately, the market is there to serve consumers, many of them feel unserved by lenders and are concerned that access to the market is denied to them.
Mr Cleary added: “We have a significant role to play in combating the feeling that mortgages are difficult to obtain, that lenders continue to favour large deposits and are unforgiving of those with credit blemishes or alternative employment histories, such as freelance or self-employed.”
ADVISER VIEW
Simon Webster, managing director of Kent-based Facts & Figures, said: “Media reports of rising house prices often discuss the national average, but that disguises huge regional variations. Prices are flat and even declining outside of London, Aberdeen and a few other hotspots.
“I would add that, in the last 15 years, there has only been one or two in which buying a house was relatively easy.”
