Fixed-rate mortgages more popular with movers, says CML

Posted: 30 Mar 2007 11:38:21 GMT

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has said that the number of first-time buyers taking out fixed-rate mortgages has not shown any notable increase, despite the interest rate rises of recent months.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has said that the number of first-time buyers taking out fixed-rate mortgages has not shown any notable increase, despite the interest rate rises of recent months.

Writing for Firstrung, the CML pointed out that the number of first-time buyers opting for fixed-rate mortgages "has been around 80 per cent in the last eighteen months, and was at 85 per cent at the start of this year."

It also said that while recent years had seen an increase in interest only loans, these were more popular among those moving than among first-timers.

The issue of first-time buyers and their difficulties in getting on the housing ladder has prompted Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru to propose extra help for them in its manifesto for the Welsh assembly elections in May.

Plaid is proposing to offer a £5,000 grant to prospective homeowners in Wales who can save the same amount over a period of three years.

It says this is targeted specifically at would-be buyers with lower incomes.



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