Such a view is widely supported across social and voting groups
Yesterday the government set out a series of housing policies designed to boost home ownership, including the extension of right to buy and allowing recipients of housing benefit to use those welfare payments to pay for a mortgage.
While this latter policy in particular has been widely derided, many will agree with Boris Johnson’s claim that it should be easier to get a mortgage.
A common complaint among aspiring housebuyers is that mortgage lenders refuse to accept that a history of paying rent is proof that a person can afford to keep up payments on a mortgage. This is despite the fact that renting a property would often be more expensive than owning it – indeed, the government’s own figures suggest 50% of renters could afford the monthly cost of a mortgage.
A YouGov poll conducted in February shows that three quarters of Britons (76%) think that banks and other mortgage lenders should accept a history of regular rent payments as proof of affordability when it comes to applying for a mortgage.
A mere 6% of people say they should not, with 17% unsure.
That mortgage payments should be acceptable to mortgage lenders as proof of affordability is widely held across all social groups and voting groups.
A separate YouGov study in January found that most Britons also support interventionist policies to tackle the housing crisis, including councils being empowered to seize and resell empty homes.
