Unaffordable Housing

May 7, 2015

According to a new report from Shelter, many first-time buyers (FTBs) are finding themselves locked out of the housing market because of affordability issues, with many being placed under increasing financial pressure in order to buy their own homes.

As a result of this the  union UNISON is asking  the Government to provide more help with homeownership, and is calling for stamp duty to be abolished for FTBs. Sylvia Jones from UNISON is reported as saying “Housing affordability remains a major problem for many people, particularly first-time buyers, looking for a home to buy, the housing affordability crisis has been compounded by the lack of social housing and finance for home ownership, and the crisis requires a wide range of solutions to tackle it.

This follows research from Your Move and Reeds Rains, which found that there was a sharp fall in first-time buyer transactions during the first three months of this year.

Allen Walkey

Highly experienced businessman with a successful career in property sales and investment both in the UK and abroad. Now a freelance writer and blogger for the property and Investment Industry, keeping readers up-to-date with changes and events in a rapidly changing world.

You May Also Enjoy

Rightmove logo
Breaking News

Mansion Tax on Homes over £2 million

Comment on Mansion Tax being introduced for homes over £2 million and £5 million from April 2028 Colleen Babcock, Rightmove’s property expert says: “The property market needs less taxation not more, to encourage and enable movement. Today’s announcement of a Mansion Tax could lead to some distortion at the top end of the market, particularly…
Read More →
Breaking News

Autumn Budget 2025: Property Industry Reacts

The Autumn Budget has confirmed a series of major housing and property tax reforms that will reshape the market over the coming years. The measures place particular emphasis on higher value homes, revised council tax structures and long term planning reform. Below is a breakdown of the announcements that directly affect the property market, together…
Read More →
Breaking News

Solutions to fix construction skills

The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) has released a report titled, ‘Skills to Build: Fixing Britain’s construction workforce crisis.’ After speaking to several organizations and having roundtables to garner a wide understanding of the sectors’ perspectives and needs, they have proposed twenty six recommendations that will fix the issues underpinning the skills crisis. Richard Beresford,…
Read More →
Breaking News

Budget Commentary – Mansion Tax, Business Rates & Planning Reform

Andrew Teacher, Co-founder at LauderTeacher, one of the UK’s leading advisors on real estate communications, investor relations and a former spokesman for the BPF, comments on the potential Budget. Mansion tax “Nobody likes paying tax, but the reality is a council tax revaluation is long overdue. Rather than distorting the market, which is what a…
Read More →
Rightmove logo
Breaking News

Budget 2025 market data & home-mover and agent insight

Speculation about property tax changes is fuelling uncertainty across much of the market Rightmove research found that home-movers would favour staggered stamp duty payments, while a poll of estate agents also suggested that staggered payments would be a preferable change to shifting payment to the seller Rightmove data on rumoured property tax changes Mansion Tax…
Read More →
Breaking News

Breaking Property News 24/11/25

Daily bite-sized proptech and property news in partnership with Proptech-X. Symple resolves four core issues in the new Renter’s Rights Act Automating compliance in the new PRS landscape   The Renters’ Rights Act has raised the bar for private landlords in England in terms of property condition, hazard resolution, evidence of compliance and regulatory registration. Symple…
Read More →