Tough times continue for first-time buyers

As the UK continues to step slowly out of the shadow of the global economic downturn, trends in the housing market are being seen as an indicator of how swiftly we bounce back from adversity.

First-time buyers are being encouraged to set foot on the bottom rung of the property ladder with financial boosts designed to make that first house purchase a more attractive proposition. New research, however, suggests that such recent moves are falling short.

The main incentive has come with the scrapping of stamp duty for first-time buyers paying less than £250,000 - which would equate to a saving of £2,000 when buying a £200,000 property, for example. This was expected to prompt a marked increase in activity but a survey carried by a leading property website suggests that the impact has in fact been negligible.

According to the research, just 26% of those expecting to buy a property in the next 12 months would be first-time buyers - an increase of just half a percent between January and April 2010. That figure of 20% falls way short of the 40% widely touted as the necessary level for a healthy housing market.

One major reason for the reluctance to buy is the feeling that property prices will rise over the next year - more than half of those surveyed expect average house prices to be higher in 12 months, with only 13% expecting prices to fall over that time period.

Another stumbling block is a lack of awareness of the government's HomeBuy Direct scheme, which despite being introduced to specifically assist first-time buyers has not taken off as hoped. Just under two thirds of first-time buyers contacted for the survey had never heard of the scheme.

London continues to be the area with the highest percentage of likely first-time buyers, while the lowest levels of activity are currently in Wales and the south west of England.

Potential property owners in their twenties and early thirties have struggled recently to obtain the funds necessary for a suitable deposit - with lending for house buying dropping by almost 90% since 2007. Indeed, recent figures that suggest that the average age of UK homeowners purchasing their first piece of property is currently 37.

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Sarah Maple is writing for Rightmove UK, helping you to find quality information, regardless if you already rent a property, bought a property or look for properties to rent.