So what does the average first-time buyer in the UK look like in 2022? We’ll take a look at some of the key facts and figures surrounding first-time buyer mortgages, such as buyer demographics, what you’ll need to be in a good position to buy your own house, and what kind of help is on offer.
An overview of first-time buyer statistics in the UK
Average age (outside London): 32.1
Average age (London): 33.8
Average first-time buyer deposit size: £61,000
Average first-time buyer house price (Overall): £236,783
Average first-time buyer house price (London): £453,778
Average first-time buyer house price (North East): £131,549
Number of first-time buyers (2021): 408,379
Number of first-time buyers (2020): 303,000
What is the average age of a first-time buyer?
The average age of a first-time buyer in the UK has been steadily creeping up over the years. As of 2020-21, the average first-time buyer outside London is 32.1, although this has actually dropped compared to the previous year.
However, the average age of first-time buyers has been increasing for some time. For example, in 2005-06, the average age was 30.6 (outside London) and was as low as 29 in the 1990s.
A big reason for this is the increase in the cost of living, something which has been felt more than ever in recent months.
House prices are also continuing to rise, which alongside the increase in the cost of living makes it harder for potential buyers to save up a deposit.
Stricter lending rules that were introduced following the recession of 2008 have also made it harder for younger people to secure a mortgage.
| Year | Average Age of First-Time buyer in London | Average Age of First-Time buyer in England (Excluding London) |
|---|---|---|
| 2005-06 | 32 | 30.6 |
| 2006-07 | 33 | 29.7 |
| 2007-08 | 32.7 | 30.5 |
| 2008-09 | 33.6 | 31.3 |
| 2009-10 | 32.8 | 31.7 |
| 2010-11 | 32.5 | 31.9 |
| 2011-12 | 31.6 | 31.6 |
| 2012-13 | 32.2 | 32.2 |
| 2013-14 | 35.7 | 31.8 |
| 2014-15 | 32.9 | 32.5 |
| 2015-16 | 32.6 | 32.3 |
| 2016-17 | 34.1 | 33.1 |
| 2017-18 | 34.5 | 32.6 |
| 2018-19 | 36.7 | 32.1 |
| 2019-20 | 34.5 | 32.2 |
| 2020-21 | 33.8 | 32.1 |
At what age can you buy a house in the UK?
You have to be at least 18 years old to buy property or land in the UK. If you’re in a position to buy a house before this age, it would have to be owned in a trust by someone such as your parents.
Technically though, the trustees would be the ‘legal’ owners in this scenario until you turn 18 and you would be the ‘beneficial’ owner.
How many first-time buyers are there currently in the UK?
In 2021 there were just under 409,000 first-time buyers in the UK, the greatest number in over 15 years.The coronavirus pandemic is thought to have played a role in this drastic 35% increase.
The reasons for this unique trend are expected to include people having more time to save money during lockdowns, and the introduction of stamp duty relief.
In 2006, there were 400,900 first-time buyers, but that number fell following the 2008 financial crisis. Since then, it has certainly rebounded, with the current peak at 408,379.
This is a surprising recovery given that house prices in the UK have continued to rise, going up by 70% from £166,606 (May 2006) to £283,496 (May 2021).First-time buyers more or less make up exactly half of the overall sales in the UK, a figure which hasn’t changed since last year.
| Year | First-time buyers | Year-on-year change | FTB Share of all mortgage house purchases |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 400,900 | 10% | 37% |
| 2007 | 357,600 | -11% | 36% |
| 2008 | 191,000 | -47% | 38% |
| 2009 | 193,900 | 2% | 39% |
| 2010 | 193,600 | 0% | 38% |
| 2011 | 188,000 | -3% | 39% |
| 2012 | 211,900 | 13% | 41% |
| 2013 | 258,200 | 22% | 45% |
| 2014 | 310,300 | 20% | 47% |
| 2015 | 298,100 | -4% | 47% |
| 2016 | 328,500 | 10% | 49% |
| 2017 | 345,900 | 5% | 50% |
| 2018 | 353,100 | 2% | 51% |
| 2019 | 351,300 | -1% | 51% |
| 2020 | 303,000 | -14% | 50% |
| 2021 | 408,379 | 35% | 50% |
By region
The number of first-time buyers is on the rise across the whole country, but where are the majority of people buying their first homes?
As of 2021, the South East had the most first-time buyers, with over 85,000, while Northern Ireland had the least with 12,110.
Over the course of the coronavirus pandemic, London saw its first-time buyer number increase the most, going up by almost half (49%). Although over the last decade as a whole, the capital saw the lowest increase in first-time buyers, at 82%.
Even in Scotland, where the lowest increase in first-time buyers occurred, there was an increase of just under a quarter (24%).
The average house price for a first-time buyer in the UK
As of July 2022, the average house price for a first-time buyer in the UK stands at £243,705.
That’s around £100,000 higher than it was ten years previously, an increase of just over 70%.
Unsurprisingly, London is the most expensive region for those looking to get onto the property ladder, with an average first-time buyer cost of £467,225.
However, the North East is the cheapest, with an average first-time buyer price of £131,549 (245% more expensive than London).
What is the average deposit for a first-time buyer in the UK?
A deposit is a sum of money that you put down as the first installment on a purchase, in this case, a house.
It’s paid to your lender and acts as a commitment to buying the house, with the rest of the mortgage balance to be paid off over a set period known as the mortgage term.
Generally speaking, you’ll need a deposit of at least 5% for a mortgage in the UK. This means that you’ll have to pay 5% of the property’s value and you’ll be loaned the remaining 95%.
However, the majority of people will put down a larger deposit than this. The average first-time buyer deposit in the UK is £61,000, which is around 26% of the average first-time buyer house price (£236,783).
What is the average mortgage size for a first-time buyer?
In the UK, the average mortgage size for a first-time buyer is currently £198,779. However, that number is somewhat skewed by the high amounts of borrowing in London and the South East compared to the rest of the country.
By region
Given that it has the highest house prices in the country, it’s no surprise that first-time buyers in London have to borrow the most.
The average first-time buyer mortgage in the capital currently stands at £358,741. That’s over three times as much as in the area with the lowest first-time buyer mortgage, which is the North East.
How many first-time buyers used Help to Buy in England?
The Help to Buy scheme was available in England and is still available in Wales until December 2022. The Help to Buy equity loan lends up to 20% of the value of a new build home, with no interest to pay for the first five years.
The scheme is now closed to new applications in England, but enabled the purchase of 361,075 properties as of August 2022. Of these, 302,225 were first-time buyers, who accounted for 84% of all homes bought through the scheme.
In total, £18.7 billion has been loaned to first-time buyers through the scheme, with the properties bought totalling £82 billion in value. In 2021, 39,192 first-time buyers bought houses through the scheme, slightly fewer than in 2020 (down by 5%).
By region
Since the Help to Buy equity loan scheme became available in England in Q2 2013, it's those in the West Midlands that have made the most use of it.
12% of house sales in the West Midlands were secured through Help to Buy, which is around twice as many as the North East, which placed second.
On the other hand, just 4.1% of Londoners made use of the scheme when buying their houses.
How have first-time buyer mortgage interest rates changed?
Your mortgage rate is how much interest you pay on the amount that you borrow. Rates are set by your mortgage lender and there are a couple of different types to choose from.
A fixed-rate mortgage rate will stay the same for the entire term of the mortgage, whereas a variable mortgage rate can fluctuate, based on a benchmark interest rate.
As of February 2022, the average 10-year fixed mortgage rate was at its lowest, at 2.2%, following a downward trend since 2009.
Other types of rates were similarly low, with the average five-year fixed rate at 1.79% (as was a three-year fixed). The average variable rate with a two-year introductory period was at 1.94%.
| Month | 2-year fixed | 3-year fixed | 5-year fixed | 2-year variable |
| Dec '00 | 6.03% | 6.23% | 6.20% | 5.76% |
| Dec '01 | 4.98% | 5.39% | 5.65% | 4.15% |
| Dec '02 | 4.62% | 5.04% | 5.10% | 4.22% |
| Dec '03 | 5.05% | 5.40% | 5.53% | 3.88% |
| Dec '04 | 5.07% | 5.28% | 5.37% | 4.91% |
| Dec '05 | 4.74% | 4.86% | 5.00% | 4.61% |
| Dec '06 | 5.15% | 5.32% | 5.49% | 5.11% |
| Dec '07 | 6.06% | 6.22% | 5.97% | 5.75% |
| Dec '08 | 4.77% | 5.11% | 5.28% | 4.70% |
| Dec '09 | 4.05% | 4.84% | 5.67% | 3.31% |
| Dec '10 | 3.50% | 4.15% | 4.76% | 2.96% |
| Dec '11 | 3.22% | 3.63% | 4.06% | 3.02% |
| Dec '12 | 3.35% | 3.67% | 3.91% | 3.44% |
| Dec '13 | 2.40% | 2.90% | 3.34% | 2.77% |
| Dec '14 | 2.08% | 2.89% | 3.21% | 1.60% |
| Dec '15 | 1.90% | 2.26% | 2.75% | 1.78% |
| Dec '16 | 1.45% | 1.79% | 2.26% | 1.48% |
| Dec '17 | 1.57% | 1.70% | 2.07% | 1.69% |
| Dec '18 | 1.73% | 1.81% | 2.01% | 1.70% |
| Dec '19 | 1.42% | 1.54% | 1.67% | 1.94% |
| Dec '20 | 1.86% | 2.04% | 2.00% | 2.19% |
| Dec '21 | 1.57% | 1.39% | 1.59% | 1.65% |
How does the average UK house price for a first-time buyer compare to their salary?
As we’ve seen, the average house price for first-time buyers has been on the rise, but have average salaries matched this?
The average first-time buyer's house price increased by 18% between May 2016 and May 2021, from £178,923 to £210,480.
However, the average UK salary rose just 12.5%, from £23,084 to £25,971 between 2016 and 2021.
In terms of the ratio of house prices to earnings, the last 20 years has seen a consistent rise, now at its highest point ever, 5.6, compared to 8.5 for home movers.
By region
Looking at the different regions of the country, it’s London where first-time buyer house prices outstrip earnings the most, with a ratio of 8.4.
This refers to the average house prices compared to gross annual earnings. Areas in the South of the country are the least affordable by this metric, becoming more so further North.
And it’s Scotland that has the lowest house price to earnings ratio, at 3.8, over half that of London.
| House price | House price | Earnings | Earnings | Ratio | Ratio | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region | 2020 | 2022 | 2020 | 2022 | 2020 | 2022 |
| East of England | £230,905 | £270,362 | £36,787 | £38,739 | 6.3 | 7 |
| East Midlands | £160,932 | £192,468 | £33,727 | £34,238 | 4.8 | 5.6 |
| Greater London | £432,453 | £463,766 | £54,721 | £55,234 | 7.9 | 8.4 |
| North East | £109,672 | £126,558 | £32,769 | £34,565 | 4 | 4.5 |
| Northern Ireland | £130,379 | £155,386 | £32,472 | £35,134 | 3.4 | 3.6 |
| North West | £146,154 | £173,777 | £34,344 | £35,058 | 4.3 | 5 |
| Scotland | £130,982 | £146,377 | £35,918 | £38,070 | 3.6 | 3.8 |
| South East | £259,875 | £298,821 | £39,152 | £41,377 | 6.6 | 7.2 |
| South West | £194,134 | £234,556 | £34,145 | £35,598 | 5.7 | 6.6 |
| Wales | £145,855 | £180,443 | £31,539 | £32,467 | 4.6 | 5.6 |
| West Midlands | £168,271 | £194,950 | £35,232 | £36,627 | 4.8 | 5.3 |
| Yorkshire & Humber | £133,852 | £155,690 | £33,266 | £36,285 | 4 | 4.3 |
| UK average | £192,157 | £221,761 | £38,374 | £39,402 | 5 | 5.6 |
Whilst obtaining your first ever mortgage can be a long journey at times, it’s also an immensely rewarding one.
If you’re currently saving to get your foot on the property ladder, be sure to check out our first-time buyer mortgages and try our first-time buyer mortgage calculator to see how much you could borrow.
Methodology and sources
Sources
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-housing-survey-2020-to-2021-headline-report
https://www.statista.com/statistics/386301/uk-average-mortgage-interest-rates/
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/uk-house-price-index-data-downloads-may-2022
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/help-to-buy-equity-loan-scheme-data-to-31-march-2022
https://www.statista.com/statistics/809021/average-monthly-costs-of-buying-a-home-by-region-uk/
https://www.statista.com/statistics/557891/first-time-buyer-average-deposit-by-region-uk/
https://home.barclays/news/press-releases/2022/03/number-of-first-time-buyers-doubles/
I'm quite familiar with the landscape of first-time homebuyers in the UK, and the insights provided here offer a comprehensive view. Let's break down the concepts addressed:
Average Age of First-Time Buyers:
- Trend: The average age has been gradually rising due to increased living costs and rising house prices.
- Historical Comparison: For instance, in 2005-06, the average age was 30.6 outside London, but in 2020-21, it was 32.1.
- Regional Differences: London typically sees a slightly higher average age for first-time buyers compared to the rest of England.
Number of First-Time Buyers:
- Trends: There has been a significant increase in first-time buyers in 2021 (408,379) compared to 2020 (303,000).
- Influences: Factors such as lockdowns during the pandemic and stamp duty relief contributed to this surge.
Regional Distribution of First-Time Buyers:
- Regional Disparities: The South East had the most first-time buyers in 2021, while Northern Ireland had the fewest.
- Growth: London saw a remarkable increase in first-time buyers during the pandemic.
Average House Price for First-Time Buyers:
- National Average: As of July 2022, the average house price for first-time buyers was £243,705, significantly higher than a decade ago.
- Regional Disparities: London tops the list with the highest average price, while the North East stands as the most affordable.
Average Deposit and Mortgage Size:
- Deposit: The average first-time buyer deposit in the UK is £61,000, about 26% of the average house price.
- Mortgage Size: The average mortgage size for first-time buyers in the UK stands at £198,779, with significant variations across regions.
Help to Buy Scheme:
- Usage: Over 84% of homes bought through the Help to Buy scheme were by first-time buyers, with substantial loan amounts issued.
Mortgage Interest Rates:
- Trends: Rates have fluctuated over the years, with recent years seeing historically low rates.
House Price vs. Salary:
- Affordability: The average house price for first-time buyers has risen faster than average salaries, leading to increased affordability challenges.
Regional Disparities in Affordability:
- London vs. Rest of UK: London exhibits the highest house price to earnings ratio, indicating lower affordability compared to other regions.
The data paints a comprehensive picture of the challenges and trends surrounding first-time homebuyers in the UK, highlighting the nuanced regional differences and the impact of economic factors on housing affordability.
