FTBs 'priced out' by landlords

First-time buyers (FTBs) are being priced out of the UK housing market by an increasing number of buy-to-let investors.

That is according to pressure group Priced Out, which said that amateur landlords are "directly displacing" new buyers from the market.

Speaking on Radio Five Live's 'Wake Up to Money' programme, Liz Overend from the group blamed buy-to-let for feeding the property bubble.

"If you look at the figures it's pretty obvious that buy-to-let is just directly displacing first-time buyers from the market. So we would like something to happen to discourage that activity," she said.

"We get stories on the website… of people just being priced out of the market and then they'll see the same property go back on the market just a few months later for significantly more than they were offering. So this is directly pricing people out.

"The housing market is not a free market as many people think it is. Supply is being directly restricted by the planning laws, by the unavailability of land or land hoarding, so it's being restricted on the supply side," continued Ms Overend.

Priced Out is planning a demonstration outside the Prope4rty Investor Show in London to raise awareness about the lack of availability of housing for FTBs.

Related Articles