News & Insights - First time buyer

The number of newly-listed homes for sale is on track to be the highest in a decade according to property platform Zoopla’s latest House Price Index.

Lloyds Banking Group is lowering the minimum income required for buyers to access its ‘First-Time Buyer Boost’, which allows first-time buyers to borrow up to 5.5 times their income instead of the standard 4.49.

The proportion of older first-time buyers is growing, according to new research from Santander, with the number of buyers aged 60 and over in 2025 up by 14% compared to last year.

Buy now pay later (BNPL) can seem like a great way to help you spread payments on things you might need, but it can impact your mortgage affordability more than you might think. Learn more L&C

Six in 10 first-time buyers (58%) say that saving up a deposit is the main barrier they face when trying to get onto the property ladder, according to research carried out by the Building Societies Association (BSA).

Growing numbers of first-time buyers are making extra payments on their mortgages in a bid to become mortgage-free faster. Learn more

First-time buyers are paying more for their first homes than they were a year ago, according to new research from Zoopla.

First-time buyers are increasingly choosing to purchase houses rather than flats, in the hope that they can avoid the need to move again.

The cost of setting up a first home has increased by just 0.6% over the past year, according to Coventry Building Society, well below the current 3.8% consumer prices index (CPI) rate of inflation.

More than 3 million households have missed out on home ownership since the 2008 financial crisis, according to a new report from specialist lender Pepper Money.

Yorkshire Building Society and Accord Mortgages, Yorkshire’s intermediary arm, have boosted the number of mortgage options available to first-time buyers.

Nationwide Building Society has changed its mortgage affordability rules so that homebuyers and those looking to remortgage can borrow more.

Skipton Building Society has launched a new mortgage designed to ease first-time buyer financial pressures by delaying their first mortgage payment for three months.

Falling mortgage rates may be good news for homebuyers, but affordability remains a major obstacle to those wanting to buy a home.

Several lenders have made their mortgages more accessible in recent weeks, boosting borrowers’ chances of buying a home.

Average first-time buyer mortgage payments are £350 a month higher than five years ago, according to research by property website Rightmove , despite mortgage rates starting to ease.

House prices edged down by -0.1% in February, according to Halifax’s latest annual house price index , although annual growth stayed at 2.9%, the same as January.

The number of first-time buyers getting onto the property ladder jumped by nearly a fifth last year, according to Halifax, thanks to easing interest rates and improving affordability.

First-time buyers are feeling more optimistic about getting onto the property ladder than they were last year, with changes to stamp duty in April failing to dampen their desire to own a home.A third (33%) of first-time buyers think now is a good time to buy a property, according to research carried out by the Building Societies Association (BSA), almost double the number a year ago. This compares to only one in five of all UK adults (20%) who believe now is a good time to buy.

First-time buyers with a smaller deposit to put down can now purchase a flat using the £5k Deposit Mortgage from Yorkshire Building Society and Accord (Yorkshire’s Intermediary arm).

Housing affordability in the UK has shown a “modest improvement” over the past year, according to Nationwide, although buyers continue to face challenges particularly in certain areas.

UK house prices ended the year up 4.7% year on year in December, according to Nationwide’s latest House Price Index, with northern regions seeing stronger price growth than southern areas.

After weeks of speculation that we might see one more interest rate reduction in December, the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has voted 6-3 in favour of leaving the base rate at 4.75%, with 3 members voting for a cut.

Inflation jumped to its highest level in eight months in the year to November, according to latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Nearly three-quarters (73%) of homebuyers who are currently renting would consider a ‘fixer-upper’ property if it meant being able to buy at a lower price.