First-time buyer numbers in the UK have reached their highest level in 12 years.
According to figures from UK Finance, the trade body for lenders, 370,000 new first-time buyer mortgages were completed in 2018 – that’s up 1.9 percent on 2017 and also the highest number of FTB mortgages since 2006.
In 2006, there were 402,800 FTB mortgages, but this peak has not been reached since thanks to the fallout of the 2008 financial crash.
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Newbies to home ownership borrowed £62bn
Those newcomers to home ownership in 2018 borrowed a total of £62 billion, up 4.9 percent on a year earlier.
UK Finance has revealed that in the month of December alone, there were 30,900 new FTB mortgages with borrowers signing up to £5.2 billion in lending – up 4 percent on the year.
The average FTB is 30 years old and is borrowing on average £145,702 to get on the first rung of the housing ladder.
Competitive deals boost market
Jackie Bennett, director of mortgages at UK Finance, said: “The mortgage industry helped 370,000 people buy their first home in 2018, the highest number in 12 years, as competitive deals and government schemes such as Help to Buy continue to boost the market.”
