Young home buyers need financial help – BSA
The United Kingdom’s annual Budget will be unveiled next week but ahead of the announcement the Building Societies Association has written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer asking for urgent help for buyers.
Propertywire.com reported that the BSA said that younger buyers in particular need concerted help to buy their first home and has suggested a way in which money could be raised to give it to them.
The money raised by the government from the sale of the NS&I 65+ Pensioner Bonds, estimated to reach £15bn by the current closure date of 15 May, could be used to offset an initial investment in affordable housing projects, the letters said.
Specifically, the BSA letter says that this money could make a lasting difference if it was used as seed funding for perpetually affordable housing developments using a model such as a Community Land Trust.
“Using the money raised from the Pensioner Bonds to make affordable housing available to young people seems a neat way for a scheme that benefits those 65 and over, to also help younger people who face such a chronic shortage of affordable housing,” said Robin Fieth, BSA chief executive.
