The chief executive of the UK's largest estate agent has renewed calls on the government to intervene in the housing market to prevent future generations being priced out of owning a home. Grenville Turner, the head of Countrywide, said the UK could become a country of renters after a survey commissioned by the company found that almost half of 18- to 34-year-olds said difficulty raising a deposit was the biggest barrier to buying a property. Turner said: "We are at a crossroads for home ownership, where we could see the next generation becoming a nation of renters without the right intervention from government. "Based on current levels of activity, the average home owner moves house once every 25 years as opposed to [historically] once every 12 years. These levels are unsustainable and we call for further support as a strong, vibrant, housing market contributes to GDP growth and will dramatically improve the economy." His comments came as Countrywide, which has 1,300 offices in the UK, unveiled a poll on the public's attitudes to the housing market. The survey of 6,000 people found that of those respondents not moving home, 21% said the reason was inability to afford a deposit, 16% said they could not afford mortgage repayments, and 16% said barriers included moving costs, such as stamp duty. Only 32% of private rental tenants said they were happy where they lived. Countrywide has claimed that a recovery of the housing market is "fundamental to economic recovery". The company has called on the chancellor, George Osborne, to introduce mortgage relief for first-time buyers, to set tough mortgage lending targets for banks and introduce incentives for development projects. While Countrywide's position has struck a chord with many, the call has followed a tough period of business for estate agents. Profits within Countrywide's estate agency business have dropped from £79m in 2006 to £26m in 2010, the last time it published results. Other surveys suggest there are improvements in housing affordability. Halifax, now part of the Lloyds Banking Group, said affordability has improved for public-sector workers in the past four years. According to the lender, a study of five public-sector occupations found the average worker could afford a home in 41% of the UK's towns compared with 3% of towns when house prices peaked in September 2007. Even so, levels of affordability – which is defined as house prices being less than four times average earnings – are still low compared with 10 years ago. The study, using figures from the Office for National Statistics, examined the average earnings of nurses, teachers, police, firefighters and paramedics, and average house prices across Britain. Nelson, Lancashire, was named the most affordable town for public-sector workers, followed by Bootle,Merseyside, and Darwen, Lancashire. Martin Ellis, housing economist at Halifax, said: "The greatest concentration of this improvement [in affordability] has been in northern England, Wales and Scotland. There are still considerable affordability issues for key workers in London and the south-east." A survey by property analysts Hometrack found affordability problems were not confined to home owners. Pressure on tenants could mean rental growth staying relatively subdued, with rents rising by 2-3% in 2012, pushing gross yields slightly higher towards 5.5% by the year-end. Richard Donnell, the director of research at Hometrack, said: "The rise in private rents has been driven by growing tenant demand and a shortage of supply. With no major improvements in mortgage availability likely in the near future rental demand is set to remain strong. There is however a limit as to how high rents can go as affordability constraints continue to squeeze household budgets."

Mortgage lending for house purchases was up by 20% in February 2012, but lenders said the increase may have been fuelled by changes to stamp duty rules in March rather than indicating a resurgence in market activity. A total of £5.4bn was lent for house purchases – 2% more than in January 2012 and a fifth more than in February 2011. First-time buyers took out 14,100 mortgages worth a total of £1.7bn, while 22,500 loans worth £3.7bn were advanced to home movers. First-time buyer numbers in February were up by 8% on the previous month and by 18% on February 2011, while home mover numbers were up by 2% month-on-month and 16% year-on-year. Estate agents and surveyors had reported an increase in interest from first-time buyers in the early part of the year as they attempted to buy a property before the end of a stamp duty holiday on properties worth between £125,000 and £250,000. Any first-time buyer buying a home within that price bracket before 24 March stood to save up to £2,500 through not paying the tax. Lenders have also introduced more deals at high loan-to-values, which could also have contributed to the increase in buyer numbers, although the CML's figures show the average deposit put down by a first-time buyer was 20% – just 1% less than in February 2011. CML director general, Paul Smee, said: "It is encouraging to see the continuing year-on-year improvement in house purchase lending. "However, it is not yet clear whether the end of the stamp duty concession will lead to a falling off in first-time buyer numbers, and how much this may be offset by the government's NewBuy scheme, available to all buying a new-build property." Mark Hollands, director of mortgage broker London Money, said he believed the rise in first-time buyer numbers would "almost certainly fizzle out" now the stamp duty holiday deadline had passed. "While homes are marginally more affordable for some first-time buyers, for the majority of would-be homeowners property ownership remains a pipe dream. Lending criteria are too tough; the deposits required too large," he said. The CML figures for remortgages show the number of loans fell by 3% in February and by 13% year-on-year at 25,500. However, just after the period covered by the figures several lenders announced increases to their standard variable rates, so it will be interesting to compare these figures with those for March. Hollands added: "Clearly there is still a degree of interest rate inertia. Borrowers need to be extremely vigilant about the vagaries of the wholesale money markets which are driving up the cost of their loans." Meanwhile, Halifax has released details of its mortgages for buyers who want help with their purchase through the government's NewBuy scheme. The scheme offers lenders a guarantee to incentivise them to offer 95% mortgages on new-build properties. Halifax will be offering two deals: a two-year fixed rate at 5.99% with a £999 fee, and a fee-free deal with a two-year fixed rate of 6.39%. The deals are available through a number of house builders.