Warning over ‘home buying pitfalls’

AA Legal Services suggests that thousands of first-time buyers in the UK are failing to avoid a range of financial pitfalls because of their desperation to get a foot on the housing ladder.

Research by the company shows that 66 per cent of homeowners aged between 18 and 29 have fallen victim to some sort of unexpected problem with their newly-bought properties, with issues like rotten windows, rising damp or leaking roofs proving expensive to resolve.

James Molloy, head of AA Legal Services, said: “Young home buyers now taking out mortgages which they will be paying off for the next 50 or so years so they should feel confident about the investment they are making.

“Simple legal and structural checks not only give peace of mind, but could also avoid costly surprises.”

A report from the Consumer Credit Counselling Service earlier this year suggested that debt management problems would put homeowners in the UK “on the rack” throughout 2007.