Sharp rise in first-time buyer numbers

January 22, 2022 by Brendan O'Neill

Borrowers

New figures indicate that the number of people in the UK buying their first home has risen to its highest level for two decades, despite price rises and the economic uncertainty caused by Covid-19.

These Yorkshire Building Society (BS) figures show that the number of property transactions during 2021 that involved first-time buyers was 408,379. This is the highest figure for a single year since 2002, which saw 531,800 people across the UK buy their very first homes. It is also the first time since the 2008 financial crash that the figure for a single year has risen above 400,000.

When compared to the number of first-time buyer deals completed throughout 2020, the figure for last year represents a rise of 35%. In 2020, the total was 303,000. Furthermore, the Yorkshire BS research also reveals that people buying a first home now account for 50% of UK house transactions that involve a mortgage.

Coming at a time when house prices have been rising steeply and the stock of available homes to buy has been shrinking, these are remarkable figures. Speaking to Financial Reporter, Nitesh Patel from Yorkshire BS said:

“There are some strong drivers of demand that explain the increased volumes. Low borrowing costs is an important factor and the increased availability of more low deposit mortgages has also been an enabler mostly for first-time buyers.”

This is testament to the work that mortgage advisors with the CeMAP qualification and lenders have been doing to mitigate price rises and housing shortages on behalf of first-time buyers.