New housing measures 'won't help new buyers'

The new measures that the government hopes will kickstart the housing market will be more beneficial to developers and investors than for first-time buyers, it has been claimed.

Earlier this week, chancellor Alistair Darling announced a package of new measures designed to provide assistance to those struggling to get onto the property ladder.

These include a year-long suspension of stamp duty for all properties worth £175,000 or less, as well as a scheme to allow first-time buyers with a household income of less than £60,000 the opportunity of an equity loan of up to 30 per cent of the value of their house.

However, Katy John from the PricedOut campaign said that while the measures may prop up the property market somewhat, they will not help those for whom the market is still over-inflated.

"It is likely to have the impact of adding whatever could be saved in stamp duty to the cost of the average house. As such, it may help the property market and those investing in it, but will do little to genuinely help first time buyers," she remarked.

Nationwide recently reported that the average price of a house in the UK in August 2008 stood at £164,654, down by 1.9 per cent from the previous month and 10.5 per cent from the same point last year.