Next Week's Budget - Government help for house buyers.

Not everyone can afford to buy a house, whatever incentive is offered. I think there should be some form of rent control and longer tenancy contracts, given that so many people now are renting.

The 5% deposit may seem a good and attractive idea but if the interest rate goes up and people have a larger capital amount to pay back each month it could become a problem.

I agree with those who say council houses should not be sold - not that there are many left now. About 15 years ago I remember quite clearly seeing a report about London ex-council houses being sold for huge amounts. One young man sold his house in Hackney, bought a house outright, a little way outside of London, and an expensive sports car. It didn't seem right to me. Also, a very significant proportion of ex-council houses are now in the hands of private landlords. So much for the "property owning democracy".

The scheme is intend for house costing up to £600k which surely must be beyond the reach of the majority of first time buyers?

I agree nadateturbe they were bought at discounted prices and sold in some cases for substantial profit especially in the London area.

I agree with Vampirequeen too.

I don't think council houses ahould ever be sold, especially at a big discount. Social housing is to provide homes for those who can't afford to buy. Its unfair too. eg We struggled to pay a mortgage while my BiL bought his council house for £20k.

I agree, social housing should be the main priority.
While I understood the thinking behind the right to buy for council house tenants at the time, it has proved to be a disaster. Now could be a good time to redress the balance.

I think more social housing would be useful too and rent caps. Buy to let has been a disaster for a lot of areas but what vampirequeen has written is right. All of it is to do with lining their own pockets, like the temporary removal of stamp duty

thunk think

I thunk it's the government's responsibility to provide more social housing, not helping people to buy.

Some suggestions about those who will still need help. www.itv.com/news/2021-02-25/revealed-top-20-places-most-at-risk-from-withdrawal-of-emergency-covid-support

We still have a long way to go!

We still have CV with us so I hope he comes up with a way of making sure everyone who should be isolating can afford to. Perhaps a salary replacement scheme. That surely has to be better than going into another lockdown.

I think it's a bad idea, encouraging people to take on huge mortgages that when interests eventually begin to rise, many may find they are unable to afford.

I wouldn't be against this if it included all houses but if it's based on the current scheme then it's only for people buying new builds. Around here the 'affordable' new builds start at no less than £200K which is far more than most young people can afford.

This has nothing to do with helping the young buy properties. It's another boost to the Tory donating building firms. Just more cronyism.

TBH I wouldn’t be against this. So many people are paying as much - or even more - per month in rent, than they would on a mortgage, because (particularly in more expensive areas) the cost of rent means that it’s almost impossible for so many to scrape together a 10% deposit.

What I really always objected to was Help to Buy, which IMO just inflated the price of new houses and put many millions into the pockets of quite a few builders.

More easily obtainable mortgages would be better, not to mention that older properties are very often in any case cheaper per sq m than new builds,