Young homebuyers being ‘stretched to their limits’

Young homebuyers in the UK are being stretched to the absolute limits of their financial capacity, it has been suggested.

Many homebuyers struggle with debt management issues and these problems are particularly acute for first-time property buyers, according to Louise Cumming, head of mortgages at Moneysupermarket.com.

As a result, many people who have only recently been able to get on to the housing ladder are looking to gain a measure of debt management security by opting for a fixed-rate mortgage deal, Ms Cumming has explained.

She said: “There’s absolutely no doubt that people in the first few years of their home-buying lives have to stretch to the absolute maximum of their income.

“If you’re at the edge of your affordability then I would go for a fixed rate.”

Research carried out by Fair Investment recently found that most British homeowners would enter a fixed-rate deal if they were to about to remortgage.