First-time buyers rush to buy ahead of amnesty end

There was a 7% rise in the number of loans given to first-time buyers last December as prospective purchasers rushed to take advantage of the stamp duty amnesty which ends next month.

The amnesty has been in place for those first-time buyers intending to buy a property worth between £125,000 and £250,000, but that is due to end on March 24, so it has been expected that there would be something of a scramble to get onto the housing ladder before the deadline.

Therefore, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) reported 18,700 loans to new homeowners in December, worth £2.3bn, which is up significantly on November, and also said that, while the overall number of loans was 2% down on November at 28,700, 2011 did see the first increase in overall lending since the financial crisis began in 2007.

However, CML director-general Paul Smee warned that, though the CML figures were encouraging, due to the Eurozone problems still ongoing, it was quite possible that lending levels for 2012 may be down on last year.