Concerns over plight of first-time buyers

Around 96 per cent of people said they thought the UK had housing problems, with 80 per cent saying the biggest problem was the lack of affordability for first-time buyers or the high levels of debt they had to take on in order to buy a property.

But half of people were also worried about the size of housing waiting lists, while 44 per cent were concerned about the boom and bust nature of the UK housing market, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

The costs involved in moving home, the lack of supply of new homes and the size of new-build properties were all also cited as problems with the market.

The research found that people thought the Government should do more to help first-time buyers.

But there was a high degree of scepticism that it would take action, with 80 per cent of people saying they thought it was unlikely or very unlikely that it would do anything to help improve affordability for this group in the coming five years.

The CML said the idea of increasing taxes on homeownership or raising stamp duty met with almost "universal disapproval".

But a balance of 38 per cent of people supported the idea of increasing taxes on private landlords or people with second homes. A third of people also thought that private landlords were squeezing first-time buyers out of the market.

Bob Pannell, chief economist at the CML, who presented the research at the CML's Future Housing conference, said he thought the support for taxing second homeowners reflected an "underlying sense of unfairness" that people felt towards this group for owning more than one property.

The research also found that people's aspirations to be homeowners remained high.

Around 54 per cent of people currently living in private rented accommodation said they wanted to buy their own home within two years, rising to 79 per cent over 10 years.

Half of people living in social housing also said they hoped to be homeowners within 10 years.

But despite the high proportion of people who aspired to homeownership, and the high level of concern about the plight of first-time buyers, a balance of 35 per cent of people said they would support a more conservative lending strategy among banks and building societies.

Mr Pannell said: "The survey found that, on balance, people expressed support for tighter lending criteria.

"But their high level of concern about would-be first-time buyers sits very uneasily with this. Overall, there is a strong case for saying: be careful what you wish for."