Chancellor urged to allow first time buyers to use pension for home deposit

The cross-party Housing and Finance Institute has urged Jeremy Hunt to allow first time buyers to take money from their pension contributions to fund a deposit on a home. The HFI says that it will bring home ownership within reach of tens of thousands of young people currently priced out of the housing market. The report also calls on Hunt to introduce new Government-backed housing deposit guarantees, and housing deposit loans which would be repayable through the tax system in the same way as student loans. It also estimated that the pension transfer and new Government loan schemes recommended in the report could result in 30,000 more people being able to get on to the housing ladder every year. Sir Steve Bullock, chair of the HFI and former Labour Mayor of Lewisham, said: "From homelessness and affordable housing to home ownership and house building, the housing crisis is getting worse. The measures in this report are practical steps that can be taken in the Budget to end the housing crisis".

Daily Mail (12/02/2024)