Quantcast
Menu

Government Help

Scottish first-time buyers in limbo

Adam Williams
Written By:
Adam Williams
Posted:
Updated:
09/03/2017

There are calls for Holyrood to lay out its plans for first-time buyers.

The Scottish Government’s Help to Buy scheme has already used up its 2015/16 funding pot, just two months into the new financial year.

Figures released by the Council of Mortgage Lenders this week showed the number of Scottish first-time buyers has fallen for the four successive quarter.

First-time buyers took out 5,400 loans in Scotland, worth £580m, during the first three months of the year. Compared to the first quarter of 2014 the number of loans was down by 7%.

Homes for Scotland director of policy Karen Campbell said the Scottish Government needed to take action to prevent a market slowdown.

“With first-time buyers the lifeblood of our industry, the figures represent the fourth consecutive quarterly fall and therefore make for disappointing reading indeed,” she said.

“Coming just a day after the early closure of the Help to Buy (Scotland) scheme which successfully supported 5,000 sales, they underscore the need for continuing Scottish Government support.”

Campbell said buyers in Scotland faced falling behind the rest of the country.

“They also emphasise the significant disadvantage that buyers and builders in Scotland now face compared to elsewhere in Britain with both England and Wales extending their schemes to not only meet the obvious demand that exists but also facilitate the building of much needed new homes with all the wide-ranging social, economic and environmental benefits this brings.

“It is therefore imperative that the Scottish Government gives a clear and early signal of its intentions on the matter if Scotland is to avoid being left in housing limbo.”


Share: