Lack of mortgages 'affecting FTBs'

Date:Monday 8th June 2009
Author: Max Freedman

Currently, first-time buyers (FTBs) are being frozen out of the property market due to a lack of available mortgages.

This was the claim made by the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI), which suggested that the government should work with the Financial Services Authority to encourage lenders to provide more funding.

According to the industry body, this would enable building societies and banks to return to the market with competitive products at higher loan-to-value percentages.

"Increased competition is required to ensure that consumers get good deals. Most mortgages are being funded by only six lenders currently and this is not conducive to good consumer outcomes in the longer term," stated AMI director Robert Sinclair.

Recently, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors predicted that 2009 could see monthly mortgage approval rates rise to between 60,000 and 65,000.

The organisation made its comments in the wake of figures produced by the Bank of England which indicated that the number of mortgage approvals granted in April totalled 43,200.