'Responsible lending needed' to boost home buyers

Posted: 21 Jun 2010 12:11:52 GMT

The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) has identified three commitments it believes chancellor George Osborne should make in his emergency Budget.

It claimed Mr Osborne should make sure all lending criteria are sensible and responsible in order to help boost the mortgage market.

A long-term review of stamp duty and the introduction of incentives for first-time buyers were the other two policies recommended by the organisation, which believes more needs to be done to help those purchasing property.

"This government has already begun to tackle this issue by raising the [stamp duty] threshold to £250,000. Now is the time to go further," said Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the NAEA, adding the tax has "fundamental inequalities".

Last week, the NAEA responded to the Housing Market Survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors by suggesting more people would consider moving house if mandatory home information packs were scrapped.

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