National Homebuyers: 'Brown slammed over grants plan'

The government has been attacked over its efforts to reduce financial difficulties for first-time buyers.

[ClickPress, Tue Apr 22 2008] Gordon brown has unveiled plans to provide grants of up to £1,500 to first-time buyers and key workers.

However, Conservative shadow housing minister Grant Shapps has slammed the figure for being too low.

"The incredible thing is that stamp duty for first time buyers is already nearly £1,700 so the money pledged won't even cover that cost," he said.

The attempt to reduce financial difficulties has been criticised in many quarters and few expect it to have much of an impact.

In addition, the grants are only available to those who take up a shared equity loans.

This led to criticism from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

"Shared ownership schemes are not a 'silver bullet' for affordability issues and will only ever be a small part of a wider package of measures. The low numbers involved in shared ownership schemes mean their impact on the housing market will be severely limited," said the organisation's public policy officer James Rowlands.

Fast property sale expert Chris Newman of National Homebuyers adds, "Getting on the property market right now is a short and long-term gamble. Homeowners are faced with the stark lack of available buyers and property prices will fall accordingly.

"As the market has been unnaturally overvalued for sometime, we have still yet to meet the point where prices are sufficiently low to allow those with the ability to get on the market or borrow at a suitable price go through the buying process."

Mr Newman is a director of National Homebuyers, the UK's leading fast property purchase firm. National Homebuyers is also the UK's leading provider of Sell and Rent Back mortgage rescue solutions.

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