Financial services providers have tightened their criteria and in doing so, narrowed down the lending options on offer, resulting in fewer high loan-to-value mortgages available, one sector commentator has claimed.
Sue Anderson, head of member and external relations at the Council of Mortgage Lenders, said that first-time buyers were benefiting when they put their foot on the property ladder because house prices were falling.
However, she added that this was set against the decline in availability of high loan-to-value mortgages, meaning such buyers needed to save up a larger deposit in proportion to the value of the house than they would have had to a few years ago.
"It does mean that they may have to wait a bit longer before they can access mortgage finance if they haven't already got substantial savings accumulated," Ms Anderson explained.
Nationwide recently reported that house prices fell by 15.9 per cent in 2008 to their lowest level since spring 2005.
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