The Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA) has welcomed the expansion of the government’s Help to Buy scheme, designed to help people get on the property ladder.
Commenting on the Help to Buy: ISA announced by Chancellor George Osborne in his Budget 2015 speech today, IMLA executive director Peter Williams said:
“The Help to Buy ISA will be heralded as another welcome initiative and the latest milestone in George Osborne’s Help to Buy project to support home ownership. But given we are just weeks away from the General Election, whether or not the new Housing ISA sees the light of day – and what other measures might accompany it – remains to be seen.
“Tax cuts for first time buyers will help to tip the scales in their favour, but they can only so much without more fundamental changes to housing supply and market structures. Anyone expecting a rescue package for homeownership in the UK will still be pinning their hopes on the upcoming election manifestos to go a step beyond this kind of welcome but ultimately piecemeal reform. The Help to Buy ISA will help some households but we must guard against a situation where house prices rise faster than savings – the fate suffered by previous interventions in this area.
“Fragmented policies are not enough to fulfil the dreams of first time buyers; only a fully formed and long term strategy can turn the tide of sharply rising prices and declining owner-occupation. We fully applaud the objective to boost deposits and aid access to homeownership, but politicians must put aside the desire for headlines and cross the party dividing lines to fully address worsening affordability in many (but not all) parts of the UK .”
Read more details about the new addition to the Help to Buy scheme in our story, giving the details about rules and requirements for opening and saving into a Help to Buy ISA.
Full details about the new scheme are available online in the HM Treasury’s outline of the scheme.
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