FTB numbers decline in NI

There has been a rapid decline in the number of first-time buyers (FTBs) in Northern Ireland.

That is according to the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE), which says that a lack of affordable housing is to blame.

Joe Fry, head of research at the NIHE, described the Northern Ireland market as being "very, very difficult" for FTBs to enter.

"There isn't the social housing being built, there isn't enough low-cost market housing being built," he said.

"It's very, very difficult [for FTBs], we've seen the numbers drop away over the last few years, quite considerably. In 2001 it was around 60 per cent, it's now less than 30 per cent."

"The ones who are getting in, as in England, a lot of them are getting help from parents or relations. Quite a number of young professionals are clubbing together, two or three of them are actually buying houses together," continued Mr Fry.

The latest figures from the University of Ulster House Price Index show that prices increased by 51 per cent in the last year.

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