The Building Societies Association (BSA) is set to release a report indicating the need for significant changes to assist prospective first-time buyers in the UK housing market.
Authored by housing expert Neal Hudson, the report, due in April, underscores the need for a delicate balance between financial stability and increasing homeownership.
The BSA’s report will argue that the current market has favoured financial stability at the expense of homebuyer inclusivity. “The inevitable cost of this imbalance has been the exclusion of many would-be homebuyers from the housing market,” the report is expected to detail. The report will call for a long-term strategy focusing on making homes more affordable and accessible.
Paul Broadhead, head of mortgage & housing policy at the BSA, highlighted the critical role of first-time buyers: “A properly functioning housing market is dependent on first-time buyers being able to afford their first home. Whilst building societies are creating bespoke, targeted innovations within the current regulatory framework, new thinking and radical changes are needed.
“Many things can be done to fix the broken housing market. But we need to ensure that changes to regulations and support schemes not only help today’s first-time buyers, but don’t fail future generations.”
Proposed changes include a review of the regulatory environment to support higher homeownership rates, offering more flexible mortgage products, and reassessing income multiples for lending caps to favour first-time buyers.
The BSA also notes the growing concern over affordability—not only regarding the initial purchase but also the subsequent mortgage repayments, which have been exacerbated by recent interest rate hikes.
