Mortgage ‘famine’ suffered by first-time buyers
Britain's mortgage sector is suffering from "famine" conditions - which have had a knock-on effect on first-time buyers.
This is the opinion of Stephen Nickell, who heads up the government's National Housing and Planning Advice Unit.
The economist, who used to help the Bank of England develop its financial policy, suggested that recent restrictions in the number of loan deals on the market have led to the "gloomy" situation.
His comments come as new research from Hometrack, released earlier this week, found that home loans numbers have dropped by around half over the last year - due in part to the onset of the credit crunch.
Mr Nickell commented: "In the mortgage market, it's almost a famine. I'm very pessimistic at the moment…I'm very gloomy."
He added: "This is a financial market recession arising from a lack of trust among financial-market participants. The demonstration of that is how difficult it is for a first-time buyer to get a mortgage. We're talking about people with good income prospects, secure jobs, who are finding it very hard."
This is the opinion of Stephen Nickell, who heads up the government's National Housing and Planning Advice Unit.
The economist, who used to help the Bank of England develop its financial policy, suggested that recent restrictions in the number of loan deals on the market have led to the "gloomy" situation.
His comments come as new research from Hometrack, released earlier this week, found that home loans numbers have dropped by around half over the last year - due in part to the onset of the credit crunch.
Mr Nickell commented: "In the mortgage market, it's almost a famine. I'm very pessimistic at the moment…I'm very gloomy."
He added: "This is a financial market recession arising from a lack of trust among financial-market participants. The demonstration of that is how difficult it is for a first-time buyer to get a mortgage. We're talking about people with good income prospects, secure jobs, who are finding it very hard."
