# Britain’s first-time buyer hotspots revealed

By Aneisha Beveridge — 2026-02-26

Aneisha Beveridge, research director at Hamptons and Connells Group, said: “Much of the early-year pick up in the market has been driven by first-time buyers, who accounted for a record share of January purchases in our data.

“Falling mortgage rates have been the key catalyst.

“With 93 per cent of new purchasers now securing a sub-five-per-cent mortgage – the highest proportion since autumn 2022 – this is supporting wider transaction levels.

“Lower rates have also enabled first-time buyers to stretch a little further, whether by borrowing at higher loan-to-value (LTV) ratios or reducing the mortgage terms that had been creeping up over the last few years.

“Nearly one in four first-time buyers took out a 90 per cent-plus LTV mortgage last month, the highest proportion since 2008.

“Changes to lending rules last year have added another boost, effectively allowing some first-time buyers to borrow slightly more than they could previously.

“This has been particularly helpful in the least affordable parts of the South, where loan-to-income caps tend to be the main constraint.

“Even so, it’s raising a deposit that remains the biggest hurdle for many.

“In London, where the average first-time buyer deposit exceeds six figures, a significant number still rely on financial help from parents or other family members to make their first major move.

“Conditions remain tougher in the South overall, where affordability pressures are most acute.

“Though even here we’re seeing tentative signs of improvement as borrowing costs edge lower.

“If mortgage rates remain steady or drift down over the spring, we’d expect confidence to continue to build.

“But any shift is likely to be steady rather than sudden, with the path of mortgage rates playing the central role in shaping how the market evolves and new homeowners’ ability to take their first step onto the housing ladder.”

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