Indeed, access to finance has dropped to its lowest level since the middle of 2008, according to the latest survey from the Building Societies Association.
The BSA says that the UK government needs to take a more holistic, cross departmental approach to housing and to actively promote the building of more new homes.
Today it wants Chancellor George Osborne to know that crucial measures are needed if current encouraging signs of recovery are to take root and take steps in the 2013 Budget to do so.
The BSA’s latest Property Tracker shows that first time buyers agree that access to finance has improved. In March last year, 50% of first time buyers said that access to finance was a major hurdle, however, in March 2013 this number has fallen substantially to 34%.
One of the reasons for this more positive mood could be that mutual lenders, including building societies, increased their lending in 2012 by 30%. The BSA points out that availability of mortgage finance should continue to increase further in 2013 as the government's Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) begins to take full effect.
When asked how UK property prices will change over the next 12 months, some 45% of consumers said they would rise. This figure is 11% up on the views expressed in December 2012. Just 14% of people think property prices will fall in the next year, well down on the 23% who thought so in December 2012.
Other major barriers to property purchase are also coming down. These include lack of job security, down by 3% from 46% in December 2012, and affordability of monthly repayments, which fell from 39% in December to 37% in March this year.
First time buyers are now more confident in their ability to make monthly mortgage repayments. They also perhaps feel less excluded from the market as there are more 90 to 95% mortgages available and interest rates have been edging down. Overall, 35% of first time buyers see affording mortgage repayments as a barrier to home ownership, down from 42% in both March and December 2012.
Despite this welcome news, a substantial number of consumers consider raising a deposit as the most difficult step to becoming a home owner, the survey also shows. Although the percentage has fallen by a fraction to 58% from 59% in December, and from 64% in March last year, it is clearly still an issue. Similarly, 61% of first time buyers still say raising a deposit is the biggest barrier for them, although this is down 8% from the 69% of March last year.
‘The results from this latest Property Tracker survey give a more encouraging snapshot of the housing market. It fits well with the financial results from a number of home builders and chimes with lending, at least in the mutual sector,’ said Adrian Coles, director general of the BSA.
‘Over the past 12 months, mutual lenders have increased mortgage lending by 30% and around one in every three loans made has been to a first time buyer. That said, house building is an important growth engine for the economy and we have a desperate need for more homes. The government must do more to make this happen and we are looking for the Chancellor to announce measures tomorrow to promote an increase in housing supply,’ he pointed out
‘On the mortgage supply side, a number of building societies have made it clear in their results that they intend to lend more in 2013 than in 2012. However, this market is driven by demand too and this is why customer sentiment is such an important lead indicator and why today's results are encouraging,’ explained Coles.
‘Of the 39 lenders who have signed up to the Funding for Lending Scheme, 26 are mutual lenders. The cumulative net lending of this group was up by £5 billion from June 2012, compared to a drop of £6.5 billion in collective net lending from all other suppliers. Whilst draw down on the scheme is yet to be significant and the impact on savers remains of deep concern, it seems clear that it is one of the factors which has contributed to the most significant improvement in customer sentiment about the housing market since a year ago,’ he added.
