First time buyers may risk missing out on any potential advantages of reduced house prices in a slowing market, as banks tighten up lending criteria following the credit crunch and investors snap up the deals. New Homes Marketing Board chair David Pretty, who is campaigning for government to take new measures to help “the forgotten generation” of first time buyers, stressed that “their plight could actually be worse in 2008 because of the reduction in funds available.” “Although the market may provide some temporary relief, the tightening of lending criteria could see them unable to benefit from a cooling market,” he said.<br><br>Government, industry and local communities must “take a long term view” and avoid overlooking the first time buyer crisis as they focus on current challenges, Pretty warned. The Halifax’s annual first time buyer review, published in December, showed that the numbers of first time buyers entering the market in 2007 – 300,000 – was the lowest recorded since 1980. The average price paid for a first time buyer home has risen by 82% in five years, and now stands at around £175,000, with the average house being out of reach for the sector in 96% of UK towns. <br><br>Pretty …