Study shows first-time buyers being forced out of cities
March 24, 2025 by Brendan O'Neill
Surveys and Statistics
The latest figures to be released for the UK mortgage market indicate that those buying for the first time are increasingly being forced to look outside of the major cities.
This finding comes from analysis produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). That organisation looked at FCA mortgage figures for the decade up until 2023. What it discovered was that a number of boroughs across London have seen significant drops in the amount of first-time buyers during that period. Furthermore, that situation was replicated in other big cities across the country.
In some of those places, the number of first-time buyers is falling, while in others it is rising but at a slower pace than for smaller areas. The figures analysed by the ONS also show that the overall number of first-time buyers is falling.
That has been the case for the past four years, with 2023 representing a particular low. During that year, the number dropped to its lowest for the entire decade – at just 282,000.
The areas where first-time buyer numbers were the highest are Bedworth, Nuneaton, Harlow and Dartford. When looked at back in 2013, it was the London areas Wandsworth, Tower Hamlets and Lambeth that had the highest numbers.
Toby Leek from Propertymark told Mortgage Strategy that:
“Many first-time buyers are being priced out of cities, especially throughout London where they have grown up or have a desire to nest themselves.”
Most mortgage advisors with CeMAP training will feel that this is yet more evidence of the need for major urban house-building.
Written by
Brendan O'Neill
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