First-timer mortgages rise in September

Figures from UK Finance show there were 29,100 new first-time buyer mortgages completed in September, a 1.6% increase on September 2018. The number of home movers was also up year-on-year, climbing 1.8%, but these were outnumbered by those taking their first step onto the property ladder, with 50 more first-timers than movers. The data also shows that 5,500 new buy-to-let home purchase mortgages were completed in September, a dip of 3.5% on the same month a year ago. September saw 17,740 new remortgages with additional borrowing, a 5.9% rise, while re-mortgages with no additional borrowing were up 8% on September 2018, with 19,140 completed. Former Rics chairman Jeremy Leaf said: “It is good to see more first-time buyer mortgages completed, showing how this group are continuing to take the place of buy-to-let landlords”. A separate report found that almost half of adults in the UK are unaware that there are schemes to help first-time buyers get onto the housing ladder – and only one in five people can name any of the three main schemes. Research from Trussle also found that fewer than one in 10 of us find the Help to Buy Equity Loan, Shared Ownership and the Lifetime ISA easy to understand. And it warns that thousands eligible are set to miss out on the benefits of the Help to Buy ISA, which closes for applications at the end of the month, simply because they didn't know it existed.

The Times (19/11/2019)   Daily Mail (19/11/2019)   The Independent (15/11/2019)