Shrinking mortgage markets to boost rental sector

20 2008
As the UK's mortgage lenders continue to pull products from the market so as to insulate themselves from the credit crunch, many more Brits are choosing to rent a home rather than attempt to buy.

That is according to one property expert, who argued that it is prospective first-time buyers who are suffering the most from the fact that the market is currently "severely constrained by the lack of mortgage finance".

As chairman of the property website iammoving.com, Simon Preston is well-placed to comment on the state of the housing market, and he believes that the lack of mortgages is likely to make renting an even more attractive option for the foreseeable future.

"Until that mortgage market comes back I don't think the owner-occupier market is going to resuscitate itself," he added.

Such a view is supported by a recent report from the Council of Mortgage lenders, which revealed that the average first-time buyer now has to put down a 22 per cent deposit on a property in comparison to 20 per cent this time last year. ADNFCR-1219-ID-18742095-ADNFCR

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