15,000 Renters In Help To Buy Stampede

Thousands of frustrated renters have joined a stampede to secure loans from George Osborne’s new London-only homebuying scheme in its first week. The huge response from more than 15,000 first-time buyers desperate to clamber on to the housing ladder is far bigger than expected and comes just seven days after the Help to Buy London initiative was launched. Mortgage brokers said they had been “deluged” by enquiries from tenants stuck in the “rental trap” and previously unable to save enough cash for a deposit.  The scheme allows buyers with just a five per cent deposit to apply for government equity loans covering up to 40 per cent of the value of a new-build property. This means they only have to raise a mortgage for  55 per cent of the agreed price. Read more on the Evening Standard website.

Five Million Britons Could Be Stuck In the 'Rent Trap' Forever

Two thirds of people living in private rented homes could be trapped into renting forever as they are unable to put any money aside for a house deposit, new research shows. Polling of private renters in England for Shelter has found that 5m people – 66 per cent of renters - are stuck in the "rent trap". The situation for is getting worse, with the proportion of renters not saving anything towards a deposit jumping by 13 per cent in two years, the YouGov poll shows. Of those who are planning to buy their own home, more than a third think it will take them over a decade to save enough for a deposit. Read more on the Independent website.