The National Housing Federation (NHF) has today embraced the Open Market HomeBuy scheme, a government created shared equity mortgage . The new loan, according to the NHF, will help many first-time buyers to afford their own home .
The housing federation went one step further however, cautioning that the government would need to increase their funding of new build houses. Without affordable homes, they said, the housing crisis will continue. David Orr, the chief executive of the NHF, confirmed this:
"We're always pleased to see the Government give people who couldn't otherwise afford it a helping hand onto the property ladder. That's why housing associations are proud to act as HomeBuy Agents and process applications. By involving mortgage lenders, we can stretch funding for low-cost home-ownership further so more people can share the benefits. However, subsidising people to buy existing properties is no substitute for building the new affordable homes we so desperately need."
David Orr continued: "If we don't match this with increased housebuilding, we risk inflating the housing market further. Our research shows that the average house price is set to soar to £300,000 by 2011, becoming unaffordable to still more potential first-time buyers. The Government must commit to providing investment in housing associations to enable them to build the 80,000 new affordable homes a year to defuse England's housing timebomb."
