Letters: Mortgage plan meets demand

JEFF Salway has an “uneasy feeling” that, by removing the obstacle of high deposit requirements to help credit-worthy buyers of new homes, our MI New Home mortgage indemnity scheme will “prolong Scotland’s housing market downturn” (Business, 18 March).

The simple facts are that: – overall new housing production in Scotland is now at its lowest level in over 80 years (outside of World War Two);

– the number of mortgage advances to Scottish first-time buyers has fallen by half from 35,300 in 2007 to 16,900 in 2011;

– “second steppers” are also finding it increasingly difficult to get off the “first rung” of the housing ladder.