BTLetters are getting desperate these days.
Look at the comment below: "BTLetters are safe as houses... provided they are not overstretched"... they are all overstretched! Interest cost = rental income has been the mantra of the BTLs! And with an interest cover ratio of 1 (not counting voids) how can you expect to survive the crunch!
Welcome repossessions!

Michelle V., richmond,

Please , please everyone calm down, house prices are coming down slightly because greedy estate agents have inflated them for the past few years, I think it's good for most people's pocket if house prices do come down a bit, also with regards to mortgages, people who have been re-mortgaging every 2 years and capital raising will have to learn that the money has to be paid off one day ! we've got so use to 4.5% low mortgage deals, a 6% mortgage interest rate is not a bad thing, everyone should just hold tight and as we've all done before we'll weather this storm, as the saying goes "whatever goes up must come ........." happy easter everyone !!!

john, london, u.k

We have no land and a rising popn as support? So did Japan. We have low rates and unemployment? So did Japan and the US does now. So we have BTL are going to see rising rents? BTL has relied in capital appreciation since 2006…more than 50% of BTL was bought in that time. There is such a surplus of BTL out there (2mn properties) that rent rises are not matching the rise in rates as they come off their fixed rates.
There are hundreds of thousands with high income multiples who will now be remortgaging. They will now be stuck on SVRs. Even "just 500,000" going from 4.5% to 7% will be huge. That is 7% on 300k, in 1990 it was 15% on 100k. Thousands being sacked in the City, mortgage approvals have collapsed, and repossessions are rocketing.
25% is more than a blip. How many homeless exist right now even despite the alleged shortage? Plenty of people want a house but need credit. Without the credit we are stuck. Excess credit meant people bid too much. Now they get less they'll bid down.

Raj, London,

Jesse in London - it is you who are 'eluding' yourself; you haven't just bought a property by any chance, have you? Or perhaps you're an estate agent. Whatever, the argument you propose is quite ridiculous.
Suffice to say, the bubble has burst, the crunch is here and if you think a 25% reduction in prices is just a blip, you're dreaming. Although I fully expect peak-to-trough nominal falls of around 40% within 3 years, so severe has this boom been.

Mike Wilson has it spot on: prices must return to affordable levels. As they have done in the past when people thought property prices only ever went up. I remember the last crash and the same excuses were being trotted out. Some folk'll never learn...

cp, London, UK

There's a bit of financial common sense that people need at all times, not just now. Don't spend more than you earn. Don't undertake risky borrowing (a large deposit protects you as well as the lender). Don't believe people who say that asset prices (houses, shares) must always go up. Pay off debt, then keep some savings in case of problems (car or house repairs, redundancy). Don't panic -- acting on fear will benefit someone other than yourself.

Carol, Derbyshire,

FTBS, don't elude yourselves. Like everyone else who has climbed aboard the housing market you will at one point or another, need to take the risk. Panic and Confidence in the market is very different from a full fledged crash. Forget holding out for a crash, its not going to happen, not at least in the UK. A 25% drop actually equates to a blip due to the fact that prices and growth were so buoyant last year, contrary to predictions. So, overall, you will not be getting a bargain unless you're looking at an empty cardboard newbuild or a property in a degenerated area. Also, potential sellers will now refrain from selling to weather the so called "storm" leaving even less stock on the market. Sorry to burst your bubble!

Jesse, london, UK

Listen, unless uve all got crystal balls may i beg of you to stop making sensationalist comments like 'i know a crash is coming' this, for want of a better word, is tosh because know one knows else theyd be stinking rich.
Admittedly, we can all forecast hard times for FTBs attempting to obtain credit in the short term having an adverse affect on market growth . BUT surely this INCREASES the demand for rent of property (unless people are going homeless?!), providing greater leaway for landlords to cover increased mortgage rates caused by the credit squeeze. Thus reinforcing the idea which motivated many people with money to invest in property in the first place.
I dont profess to be an expert so please correct me if im wrong, but, providing Landlord's aren't so over stretched that even higher renting rates will not cover the size of their loan when rates change, then I believe people invested in property are, safe as houses, forgive the pun.

Mark, brimingham,

Sound advise. I am a first time buyer and i know a crash is coming, there is no way i will be purchasing a house for at least 12 months.

To other FTB'ers out there, dont be stupid and risk everything which you have saved hard for. Wait 12 months and pay up to 30% less.

richard hepburn, Diss, Norfolk

Unusually good and frank advice. May I suggest sending it immediately to every estate agent in the country to pass on to their vendors. They need to talk the market down now or they are going out of business. With FTBs needing a large cash deposit and the BTL mortgage market drying up - it is time that someone spelt out to house sellers in words of one syllable that the prices achieved in the last few years were as a result of cheap credit and liar loans.

Now prices must return to normal affordability levels. People who took a huge mortgage out in the last few years in the utterly STUPID belief that house prices would carry on going up forever, aided and abetted by all lenders, property journalists AND the presenters of property porn shows like Sarah Beeny, Phil and Kirstie and the irritating twerps that present Under the Hammer (under the cosh now!) - are going to have the next 10 to 20 years to regret their actions and try to pay their debts down.

Mike Wilson, Winchester,

Or even Whopping 25% James.

Yes, but this is really the problem isn't it?

Austin Tassletine, South West, UK

"If you are a first-time buyer, don’t bother trying to get a mortgage unless you have a deposit for at least 25 per cent of the property value."

And where did you get that idea from? are you trying to scare off what few first time buyers we have left? I am a broker at a dedicated first time buyers centre and we still have plenty of mortgages for those without a whoping 25% deposit

james webster, plymouth,