First-time buyers looking at tracker and variable loans

August 16, 2026 by Brendan O'Neill

Property Market

The latest set of mortgage industry figures show that an increasing number of first-time buyers are looking at tracker and variable loans.

Those figures were published by Moneyfacts and they reveal a big rise since the start of the year. The number of people buying for the first time who explored tracker and variable mortgages during July was 31%. By way of comparison, the figure for February was below 10% – so it has tripled since then.

What is not clear from the Moneyfacts data though is what percentage of them actually opted for variable or tracker deals. There is always the possibility that some of them decided to go with a fixed rate mortgage instead.

The figures do seem to indicate that rises in fixed rates are causing first-time buyers to consider alternatives though. The average two-year fix at loan-to-value (LTV) of 90% stood at 5.09% in February. By June, it had risen to 5.74%.

In comparison, the average two-year tracker mortgage rate was just 4.8% for June. This would mean a monthly saving of roughly £111 for first-time buyers. The risk with tracker mortgages is that the rate can go up along with the base rate.

Adam French works at Moneyfacts. Speaking to Mortgage Strategy, he said:

“Money markets are currently pricing in a couple of base rate hikes over the coming months. If those expectations prove correct, tracker mortgage repayments will rise too.”

Someone with the CeMAP mortgage advisor qualification is best placed to help first-time buyers to make a wise choice between these options.