NAEA calls for housing market action

News Category: Industry News

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The UK's leading professional body for estate agents is calling on the government to take preventative action so that people do not lose their homes.

The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA) want the government to avoid the US government's late action on the housing crisis and offer tax breaks to boost the market.

A property crisis in the US has seen over a million Americans lose their homes, and the US has proposed a housing rescue bill which could help struggling homeowners get cheaper loans.

Peter Bolton King, chief executive of the NAEA, said: "The housing market is a pillar of our economy and whilst we are not in the same position as the US and it will require different solutions there are things that that our government can do to ease the pressure and ensure our situation does not worsen."

The NAEA head said the government could improve the situation by abolishing stamp duty for first time buyers and moving the thresholds up as an incentive and to offer consumers hope for the future.

Mr King suggested that in order to restore belief in the market, the Bank of England needs to pump more liquidity into the mortgage markets so that people can find funding and the government should support more pro-active initiatives.

The US housing rescue bill was passed by the House of Representatives this week after George W Bush dropped his threat to veto it.

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