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NewsArticle-23-03-2011

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Scottish First Time Buyers MUST get new Budget money

Home building industry body Homes for Scotland today welcomed the £250m of funding set aside to help First Time Buyers in the UK Budget but warned that any impact in Scotland would depend on how the next Scottish Government chose to use any of the new money it received.

Highlighting the need to prioritise any such funds into initiatives targeting this vital group of consumers, Chief Executive Jonathan Fair said:

“First Time Buyers are essential to a healthy and well-functioning housing market but they have been particularly hard hit by severe restrictions in mortgage lending. Still the main obstacle to recovery in our sector, it is imperative that this blockage is removed.

“We therefore wish to work closely with the next Scottish Government to develop programmes leveraging private sector investment to increase the flow of finance. A key example of this type of approach would be the introduction of a Mortgage Indemnity Guarantee underwriting lending risk at limited public cost. The social and economic benefits increased housing production could deliver are immense. If, for example, build levels could be increased by 10% per annum over the lifetime of the next Parliament, we could have 46,000 new homes, 38,000 new jobs and over 1000 new apprentices.”

Referring to UK Government moves to further reform Stamp Duty on bulk purchases and make Real Estate Investment Trusts easier to set up and more accessible to investors, Fair described these as “helpful” but said that more detail was required in order to make a full assessment.

Ends

Enquiries to:

Jennifer Kennedy, Homes for Scotland – 0131 455 8350 / 07763 240694

Notes to Editors:

Homes for Scotland (www.homesforscotland.com) represents the country’s home building industry which, prior to the onset of the credit crunch,:

- was the largest source of private investment in Scotland and the largest user of the planning system

- built 20,000 new private homes each year, contributed £6bn to the economy and supported the employment of 100,000 people (2007 figures)

As a result of the economic downturn, housing supply is now touching all time lows. This is having far-reaching and long-term social and economic consequences for Scotland's population.

For up-to-date market commentary, visit www.homesforscotland.com or follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/H_F_S.

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