First time buyers make up more of the mortgage market for fourth month in a row

Small deposit buyers continued to increase their share of the UK mortgage market in April 2017, the fourth month in a row they have done so, new research shows.

This group of buyer, which included most first time buyers, accounted for 21.5% of the overall market in April, up from 21.4% in the previous month and up from 16.1% in December 2016.

The details from the latest mortgage monitor report from residential chartered surveyors e.surv also shows that the overall mortgage market has grown in the last month, stopping the recent decline.

There were 67,035 loans approved in April, up compared to both last month and the same stage last year and the first monthly rise since November 2016, a rise of 0.3% month on month and up 1.7% year on year.

‘There was even better news for first time buyers and others with small deposits. That is not to say there aren’t significant challenges ahead, but data from the market this month is overwhelmingly positive,’ said Richard Sexton, director of e.surv chartered surveyors.

‘First time buyers are the lifeblood of the property market. Low rates and better availability have helped people buy their first home. Their presence then allows others to move up the ladder and keep the whole market moving,’ he added.

April was the third month in a row that the proportion of loans given to home buyers with large deposits was below the 35% mark. While market share increased slightly month on month, the trend in recent months has been towards small deposit and middle market borrowers.

Large deposit borrowers, defined as those with a deposit of 60% or more, took 34.6% of the market in April, slightly higher than the 34.4% recorded in March but still down on the high of 35.4% recorded in January.

‘There are historically low mortgage rates on offer across the board and this has helped the overall market grow this month. The proportion of borrowers with large deposits has improved compared to March but still remains below the 35% mark,’ Sexton pointed out.

When broken down on a regional basis, Northern Ireland saw more small deposit borrowers than anywhere else during April 2017 with 34.6% of the market. Only two other regions saw more than a quarter of loans go to small deposit borrowers, the North West where 31.6% of all loans went to this segment of the market and Yorkshire at 28.9%.

Northern Ireland, the North West and Yorkshire were the only three regions where there were more small deposit buyers than large deposit ones. In Northern Ireland 28.9% of loans went to large deposit buyers while in Yorkshire it was 25.4% and in the North West 24.3%.

Scotland saw the smallest proportion of loans go to first time buyers and others with small deposits. In total 18.4% of loans went to this part of the market in April, a smaller proportion than anywhere else in the UK. This was well below even London, where 20.2% of all loans went to smaller buyers.

London saw 38% of its mortgage approvals made to borrowers with a large deposit, the highest proportion recorded in this survey, followed closely by Scotland with 37.9%, he South East at 37.3%, the South and South Wales at 37.2% and Eastern England at 35.7%.

‘Northern Ireland is the best place in the UK to get on the ladder if you only have a small deposit saved. However, other regions such as the North West and Yorkshire have provided equally fertile ground for new borrowers so far in 2017,’ Sexton added.