Have a look at this (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/talking_point/4570619.stm) story.

Taken from the BBC Website
First-time home buyers struggling to get on the property ladder could get help to buy cheap mortgages funded by taxpayers' money

Now on the face of the scheme, the average home owner would scream... hell no. Why should this be fair? We have had to scrimp and scrape to get our mortgage, why should someone else have a free ride.

You may also say this will again push up house prices, because more people in a position to buy (with government help) means more demand than supply so prices go up.

All in all a silly idea from the government.

Or is it?
Reading between the lines, Mr Brown isn't that stupid is he?

Imagine... you're a first time buyer and you get government and Bank help with the costs of buying the house. Great... now you're on the ladder.

However... you come to want to sell up and buy bigger... your house is half owned by the government. That to me says that half of the value in that house ALSO belongs to the government.
Not only will the government get money from stamp duty, but they'll also have made themselves a tidy profit from the sale... sneaky those men in the cabinet aren't they ;)

I suspect the govt. are also extremely twitchy about a house price crash and the effect it would have on their credibility. The scheme should help keep house price inflation on the boil for a while.

Plus they will charge "rent" on the half they own as well. All in all a silly scheme which I'd not go near with a bargepole.

Apparently the average house price in Britain is £164 000

Also apparently the average salary is £24 000

So the average house price is 6.8 times the annual salary.

Normally the banks would lend you three times your salary to buy a property. So for the average 1st time buyer on the average salary that's a total of £72 000.

Just think of the properties available for that price... and the area's they are in.

I know this has been touched on before in other threads, but look. Am I the only person in the country who thinks house values are at the final edge of the biggest bubble in years?

Originally posted by Deavon
Apparently the average house price in Britain is £164 000

Also apparently the average salary is £24 000

So the average house price is 6.8 times the annual salary.

Normally the banks would lend you three times your salary to buy a property. So for the average 1st time buyer on the average salary that's a total of £72 000.

Just think of the properties available for that price... and the area's they are in.

I know this has been touched on before in other threads, but look. Am I the only person in the country who thinks house values are at the final edge of the biggest bubble in years?

Here (http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-7016744.rsp/svr/1001;jsessionid=2050CB69EC1273059129F62DB72E1E37?p a_n=2&tr_t=buy) is what you might get for £72,000. :P

On a serious note though, the scheme does sound like an act of desperation to me.

Originally posted by Lickszz

On a serious note though, the scheme sounds like an act of desperation to me.

Certainly an admission that house prices are out of control and they can't do much about it.