A leading figure in the property industry has slammed the government’s proposals to encourage more lenders to offer 50 year mortgages to help people get on to the housing ladder.
Instead, David Alexander of the Lomond Group wants more investment in the private rented sector, more emphasis on social housing and easier planning laws to provide a combination of solutions to the current housing shortage.
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Alexander is chief executive of DJ Alexander Ltd, the largest lettings and estate agency in Scotland and part of the Lomond Group.
He says Boris Johnson’s support for increasing mortgage terms to 50 years may appear a help to first time buyers it has the potential to simply delay a downturn in the market. Rather than resolving issues for borrowers it may simply be exacerbating problems.
Such a policy, if fully implemented, has the very real potential to encourage a short-term boom in the housing market followed by a long-term bust, he warns.
He says: “With people stuck on 50-year mortgages they are unlikely to be able to afford to move as it will take decades for equity to accrue, debt will remain very high for years resulting in the bulk of repayments being made against interest, and there will be little opportunity or ability to move home despite the likelihood of changed circumstances.
“While it may suit a young couple who borrow on this basis in their twenties this could become a burden when they start a family and need to borrow more to buy a larger home After a decade, they will have paid off very little and any accrual in value will be matched in the property market they live in limiting their options to change home.”
He adds: “What the housing market does not need are longer mortgages, less stringent affordability criteria, or higher borrowing multiples. If the government really wants to stabilise or reduce prices, then they need to increase supply. Demand has been outstripping supply for years in both social housing and the private sector and unless this is resolved there will continue to be housing shortages and rising prices.”
And Alexander concludes: “The solution to the problem is to encourage more homebuilding through an easing of the planning system; seriously increase the volume of social house being built; and encouraging investment in the private rented sector to continue to meet the demands of people not currently buying and not eligible for social housing. A 50-year mortgage is simply temporarily sustaining the market and passing debt on to the next generation which does nothing to resolve the long-term underlying issues in the housing sector.”
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