FIRST-TIME buyers are to find it even harder to get onto the housing ladder as the credit crunch starts to bite in the Island.
They will be hit by the news today that Jersey’s biggest mortgage lender is dropping 90 per cent mortgages – and demanding a deposit of at least 25 per cent.
Jersey Home Loans has announced a change in lending policy, sparked by the global credit crunch. The firm has been Jersey’s biggest lender for the past two years, with a 25 per cent share of the market and around £700m loaned out to Jersey homeowners.
And their competitor Newcastle are demanding a 15% deposit – meaning that first-time buyers who are already struggling with a 40% increase in the cost of some properties over the last 18 months have been dealt a further blow.
• Picture: Jersey Home Loans managing director Rob Procter
