Rental sector rivals unite against Tory First Time Buyer plans

Both sides of the rental divide have criticised Conservative proposals to boost housing demand while doing nothing about supply.

Over the New Year break the Tories leaked to newspapers their proposals for a series of schemes to woo votes from first time buyers.

The Times reports that Housing Secretary Michael Gove says there will be “definitely” be schemes aimed at boosting demand from younger would-be buyers.

These include much longer term fixed rate mortgages with government guarantees against default - similar to loans currently available in the United States.

Gove tells the paper: “We have been asking the question, how can we ensure that people with decent incomes who are finding it difficult because of the scale of deposit required to get on the ladder?

“I don’t want to pre-empt anything but it’s about looking at some of the rigidities in the mortgage market that they don’t have in other jurisdictions.”

Other options include a new version of Help To Buy, which used to offer first time buyers equity loans for up to 40 per cent of the purchase price of properties with the need for only five per cent deposits.

The Times also speculates that the government is considering changes to stamp duty to help FTBs further.

YouGov polling for The Times shows only 11 per cent of 24 to 49 year olds say they will vote Conservative at the next election; 43 per cent of over-65s say they will.

However, both the National Residential Landlords Association and Generation Rent have slammed the idea.

On his social media account on X, formerly Twitter, NRLA chief executive Ben Beadle says: “Homeownership is obviously great - but given there are one million-plus people on social housing waiting lists, 25 applications for each [private] rental property, a record spend on temporary accommodation, highest rents on record and lowest landlord profits since 2007, shouldn’t renting be the focus?

Generation Rent’s deputy chief executive Dan Wilson Craw also took to social media, tweeting: “Oh, it’s longer term mortgages to the rescue again. I wonder if it’s the same longer term mortgages that have screwed up the US housing market where hardly anyone wants to move because it would mean losing the low interest rate they locked in pre-2022?”

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