More FTBs needed to create vibrant communities

A greater number of first-time buyers are needed in Britain in order to provide a boost to the UK property market and create a type of vibrant community that needs a good mix of people in order to bring it together.

This is the opinion of spokesman for the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE), who said that it is important that people of all ages are able to afford to live in countryside areas, for example, to ensure that the community feels varied.

"We want the countryside to be a living, working, breathing thing. Part of that is the industry, the jobs, the family and the people who are there, so obviously you need the countryside to be able to support a range of people and a range of professions."

He said that no group of people can thrive if it is made up solely of young people or retirees, and that this means that it is important that young people can afford to buy in all areas of the country when looking for their first home.

However, youngsters can find it difficult to buy with prohibitive conditions for borrowing meaning they need to have a perfect credit history and large deposit.

The spokesman said that for this reason, it is up to the government to help, ensuring that first timers have access to the market by making it easier for them to be able to access the mortgages that they require.

"Banks won't lend because they are worried that they might blemish their credit sheets and so on. The first step is that the government needs to encourage banks to lend to first-time buyers and they need to encourage first-time buying to happen.

"There are a number of schemes that they have tried. Those are the things that they need to do, but how they do it is really for the government to say," he concluded.