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First-time buyers 'could have more accommodating mortgages'

By Jonathan Dawes, Fri 12 Mar 2010 - Published in Mortgages

More mortgages could be aimed at first-time buyers because of rising confidence in the housing market, it has been claimed.

Recent figures from Moneyfacts revealed that the availability of lower deposit mortgages rose by 90 per cent year-on-year in March.

Ben Wilkie, editor of What Mortgage, said lenders are becoming more accommodating to first-time buyers because of a general confidence rise in the market.

"The housing market seems to be back on a slightly more even keel [and] there's bit more confidence to mortgage companies, so that to attract customers they have to be a bit more flexible with their loan-to-values," he explained.

Mr Wilkie also predicted that 95 per cent loan-to-value mortgages could soon return to the market, although it is unlikely ratios will rise beyond this point.

Furthermore, the expert claimed the difference in pricing between high and low loan-to-values will start to close from its current marked condition.

The latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders showed gross mortgage lending fell to £9.1 billion in January 2010, which is a 32 per cent drop from December 2009.