Scottish Building Society urges more FTB initiatives

This follows residential transactions dropping in Scotland despite house prices rising quickly.

Scottish Building Society urges more FTB initiatives

The chief executive of Scottish Building Society Paul Denton has urged the government to consider more initiatives to help buyers get onto the property ladder in Scotland.

This followed recent government figures showing residential sales in Scotland have slumped by 13% whilst house prices continue to grow faster than the rest of the UK.

Denton (pictured) said: “On the face of it, Scotland’s property market is travelling in a different direction from the rest of the UK.

“It is easy to read too much into a single month’s worth of data, but it is worth pointing out that house prices have grown faster than the UK average for every month, bar three, since December 2017.”

Denton was concerned that we are seeing a drop in sales volume which amounts to 9,020 transactions.

"That 13.4% decline compares with a decrease of 5.8% in England, 4.5% in Wales and 1.8% in Northern Ireland."

It is estimated that 80,000 fewer homes than needed have been built in Scotland since the economic crash.

Denton added: “In Scotland demand continues to outstrip supply at a time when interest rates are low and availability is good.

“We welcome any initiatives from the Scottish government to replenish that housing stock and negotiate around financial and regulatory barriers that prevent people from owning their own home.

“The house price crash predicted by some experts around Brexit has not materialised as buyers still take a medium-term view on the biggest purchase decision of their lives.

“However, it is too early to say we are out of the woods yet, with 20% of households surveyed by NMG suggesting they are delaying buying decisions because of Brexit."