NAEA calls on the government to take action now

Following the publication of the US government's housing rescue bill, The National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), is calling on the government to heed the US government's late activity on their housing market and to take preventative action.

Peter Bolton King, Chief Executive of the NAEA, said: "It is worrying to see that it has taken more than a million people losing their homes for the US administration to take action by introducing the housing rescue plan, including a tax break of as much as $7,500 for first time home buyers. The housing market is a pillar of our economy and whilst we are not in the same position as the US and it will require different solutions there are things that that our government can do to ease the pressure and ensure our situation does not worsen.

"The first thing the government could do is introduce a tax break, such as abolishing Stamp Duty for first time buyers and moving the thresholds up to ease pressure throughout the whole housing market giving people a reason and incentive to come back.

"In addition, the Bank of England needs to pump more liquidity into the mortgage markets to ensure people are able to find funding for mortgages, together with the government supporting more pro-active initiatives, such as the blueprint recently drawn up by The Council of Mortgage Lenders to address the funding problems in the mortgage market. These are just some measures that will really help people and restore much needed belief in the market."

"If the government really wants to help the housing market we need to see action now from the government to ease pressure and give consumers hope for the future."