First time buyers suffer as buy-to-letters boom

First time buyers are struggling to get a foothold on the property ladder because of the booming buy-to-let market, it has been claimed.

Many first time buyers are struggling to get onto the property ladder as prices continue to rise, but the problem has been exacerbated by the rise in the buy-to-let market, where landlords are profiting from the boom in property prices and snapping up available housing stock to add to their portfolio.

Paul Diggory, president of the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) has called on the government to make more of an effort to help out first time buyers and has argued that they should enjoy similar tax breaks as those currently received by buy-to-let landlords.

Mr Diggory argued that tax relief currently available in the buy-to-let sector could be repositioned to the first time buyer market so as to stimulate more growth at the bottom end of the housing industry.

"The government has acknowledged that there is an acute lack of affordable housing across the country so it does not make sense to still offer tax relief to those who buy, simply to rent," he explained.


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