NAEA urge govt to learn from US mistakes

The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) has called on the government to heed the US government's mistakes and take preventative action on issues in the UK property market.

Following the publication of the US government's housing bill - which included tax break plans for home owners - the chief executive of the NAEA called on the UK government to abolish stamp duty tax for first-time buyers.

Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the NAEA, admits that the UK economy is not in the same position as the US, but believes that the government can ease pressure in the market.

Outlining measures that he thinks will restore belief in the market, Mr King said: "The Bank of England needs to pump more liquidity into the mortgage markets to ensure people are able to find funding for mortgages."

"This would work together with the government supporting more pro-active initiatives, such as the blueprint recently drawn up by The Council of Mortgage Lenders to address the funding problems in the mortgage market."

Last week, the NAEA urged investors to take advantage of the house price correction, as sellers can no longer hold out for very high offers - due to a growing surplus of properties for buyers to choose from.

Mortgages News posted on 24/07/2008 15:31:09