Majority of potential first-time buyers "are jobless"

Date:Tuesday 6th October 2009
Author: Max Freedman

The majority of potential first-time buyers are unemployed and that is the main reason why so few of them want to get on the property ladder, an industry expert has suggested.

Paul Holmes, chief executive of Firstrung, made his comments following the publication of a survey by the National Association of Estate Agents, which indicated that 16 per cent of people do not want to own a property.

He pointed out that 23 per cent of 18 to 25-year-olds in the UK are out of work at the moment and that this age group is often where potential first-time buyers are from.

Mr Holmes remarked that unemployment is predicted to hit three million in the near future which will mean a lot of people will not be able to afford to take out a mortgage.

"That is why you're getting very few first-time buyers with desire to get on the property latter - the vast majority of them are jobless," he explained.

Another factor that Mr Holmes highlighted as a cause for less first-time buyer house purchases has been the low number of 90 and 95 per cent loan-to-value mortgage deals available.