Property purchases ‘should not be funded through unsecured debt’

UK consumers should avoid funding property purchases through unsecured debt, one expert has asserted.

Peter Beckett, business development director with iammoving.com, has described using credit card debt or personal loans to raise a housing deposit as a “very dangerous thing to do”.

Research from Mr Beckett’s online change of address service showed that a third of all first-time buyers around the country have used unsecured borrowing in order to get on the housing ladder.

Furthermore, around 17 per cent of British first-time buyers have borrowed money from friends and family so they can make their first property purchase.

Reflecting on the reasons behind these trends, Mr Beckett said: “The whole housing market is at quite a turning point I think, whereby the prices are coming down and first-time buyers are looking for ways to be able to manage to get on to the ladder.”

Meanwhile, the latest figures from Nationwide have indicated that house prices have been falling in the UK during each of the past six months.