It’s a fresh start for the property market – and according to John Elliott, managing director of Millwood Designer Homes, a positive one at that.

Despite December being traditionally a fairly quiet month on the property front, we still ended on a high with house prices rising 1.3% according to Halifax.

Last year therefore saw little change for house prices and I doubt that 2013 will be much different. This stability is vital to the recovery of the property market, and I think if we remain patient we should see a stronger market in the years that follow.

We will also see parents continuing to help their children financially to get on to the property ladder – particularly when you consider that buying is now cheaper than renting in 90% of 50 towns in Britain, with mortgages costing on average £1,080 less per year than renting.

Research from the Equity Release Council has revealed that over 228,000 first-time buyers have been provided with more than £1.31bn in deposits by the bank of mum and dad over the last five years.

However, this doesn’t help all those potential first-time buyers who are desperate to own their own property, but unable to scrape together the hefty deposit required.

This is the main issue that I can see holding back the recovery of the property market this year and so it is vital that we see lending conditions continue to improve in 2013.

According to the Bank of England’s Credit Conditions Survey, lending conditions improved significantly over the three months to mid-December, partly due to the Funding for Lending Scheme.

With demand for house purchase lending expected to increase, it looks like 2013 could be a busy period for the property market.

Millwood has a range of properties throughout Kent. For more information call 01732 770991 or visit the company website at www.millwooddesignerhomes.co.uk