There’s been a huge rise in the amount of money contributed to the housing market by first time buyers.
They paid over £86 billion in 2021, increasing by just over £27 billion in a single year.
The figures come from comparison website GetAgent which has analysed data from Halifax concerning FTBs, cross-referring it with the average price paid based on Land Registry data.
This shows that across Britain some 397,232 first-time buyers entered the market in 2021, up from 295,390 in 2020. T
That’s over 100,000 more first-time buyers in a single year, with the South East seeing the largest increase at 24,416, followed by London on 18,717 and the North West with 8,698.
The average price paid for a first home also climbed from £199,251 in 2020 to £216,836 in 2021, a nine per cent increase. Reflecting the regional differences in house price growth, Wales saw the largest FTB price paid jump at 12 per cent.
GetAgent chief executive Colby Short says of the figures: “Despite house prices climbing to record new heights during the pandemic, the number of first-time buyers entering the market has climbed significantly on an annual basis and the overall level of market value they account for is huge, to say the least.
“This greater demand has pushed the cost of buying even higher but it’s clear that the aspiration to own our own homes remains strong, even in today’s generation who have become more normalised to long term renting.
“This bodes well where the ongoing health of the housing market, as it suggests that there is little sign of the buyer demand hopper running low anytime soon. With the level of new housing stock also failing to keep up, property values should remain buoyant, even if we do see the odd adjustment every now and then.”
FTBS HAVE TO BORROW >7X SALARY
With house prices rising at their fastest pace in 17 years, first-time buyers now need to borrow up to seven-and-a-half times their salary to get on the property ladder in some popular UK cities, according to new figures.
Bath tops the list as the country’s least affordable location according to new research of 100 UK towns and cities by online mortgage broker Mojo Mortgages, followed by Oxford and London.
Homes in Bath typically command a price tag of more than £528,530, almost twice the national average of the locations featured in this research of £287,830.
But with residents typically earning £29,940 a year – a couple who’d saved a 15 per cent deposit would still have to borrow seven-and-a-half times their salary for an average-priced home in the city.
While wages are higher in Oxford, a couple would need to borrow 7.29 times their combined salary for a £570,357 property, and in London it would be an income multiple of 7.13 for a £704,138 home.
The top 20 most expensive towns and cities are all in or around the South of England, apart from Stratford-upon-Avon in 18th.
| Location | Average annual salary (£) | Total salary of couple both earning average salary (£) | Average House price (£) | Average deposit in (£) (based on 15%) | Remaining mortgage balance (£) | Average income multiples required |
| Bath | £29,940.00 | £59,880.00 | £528,530.00 | £79,279.50 | £449,250.50 | 7.50 |
| Oxford | £33,263.00 | £66,526.00 | £570,357.00 | £85,553.55 | £484,803.45 | 7.29 |
| London | £42,001.00 | £84,002.00 | £704,138.00 | £105,620.70 | £598,517.30 | 7.13 |
| Poole | £28,753.00 | £57,506.00 | £454,658.00 | £68,198.70 | £386,459.30 | 6.72 |
| Brighton | £30,946.00 | £61,892.00 | £462,035.00 | £69,305.25 | £392,729.75 | 6.35 |
| Guildford | £41,369.00 | £82,738.00 | £613,099.00 | £91,964.85 | £521,134.15 | 6.30 |
| Watford | £32,965.00 | £65,930.00 | £456,029.00 | £68,404.35 | £387,624.65 | 5.88 |
| Slough | £33,198.00 | £66,396.00 | £457,549.00 | £68,632.35 | £388,916.65 | 5.86 |
| Exeter | £26,710.00 | £53,420.00 | £333,933.00 | £50,089.95 | £283,843.05 | 5.31 |
| Cambridge | £39,112.00 | £78,224.00 | £480,366.00 | £72,054.90 | £408,311.10 | 5.22 |
| Bournemouth | £28,753.00 | £57,506.00 | £350,230.00 | £52,534.50 | £297,695.50 | 5.18 |
| St Albans | £50,356.00 | £100,712.00 | £611,025.00 | £91,653.75 | £519,371.25 | 5.16 |
| Canterbury | £30,867.00 | £61,734.00 | £368,661.00 | £55,299.15 | £313,361.85 | 5.08 |
| Reading | £37,324.00 | £74,648.00 | £445,438.00 | £66,815.70 | £378,622.30 | 5.07 |
| Bristol | £30,579.00 | £61,158.00 | £362,563.00 | £54,384.45 | £308,178.55 | 5.04 |
| Stevenage | £29,209.00 | £58,418.00 | £345,766.00 | £51,864.90 | £293,901.10 | 5.03 |
| Eastbourne | £27,869.00 | £55,738.00 | £328,212.00 | £49,231.80 | £278,980.20 | 5.01 |
| Stratford-upon-Avon | £35,311.00 | £70,622.00 | £415,390.00 | £62,308.50 | £353,081.50 | 5.00 |
| Cheltenham | £34,896.00 | £69,792.00 | £409,614.00 | £61,442.10 | £348,171.90 | 4.99 |
| Maidstone | £32,249.00 | £64,498.00 | £377,294.00 | £56,594.10 | £320,699.90 | 4.97 |
At the other end of the spectrum, some of the best bargains to be found are in the North of England and Scotland, with the top ten most affordable areas as follows:
| Location | LocationAverage annual salary (£) | Total salary of couple both earning average salary (£) | Average House price (£) | Average deposit in (£) (based on 15%) | Remaining mortgage balance (£) | Average income multiples required |
| Hull | £29,193.00 | £58,386.00 | £158,228.00 | £23,734.20 | £134,493.80 | 2.30 |
| Bradford | £27,413.00 | £54,826.00 | £151,858.00 | £22,778.70 | £129,079.30 | 2.35 |
| Gateshead | £27,309.00 | £54,618.00 | £153,159.00 | £22,973.85 | £130,185.15 | 2.38 |
| Hartlepool | £25,530.00 | £51,060.00 | £147,916.00 | £22,187.40 | £125,728.60 | 2.46 |
| Barnsley | £27,411.00 | £54,822.00 | £167,335.00 | £25,100.25 | £142,234.75 | 2.59 |
| Blackpool | £22,567.00 | £45,134.00 | £139,752.00 | £20,962.80 | £118,789.20 | 2.63 |
| Darlington | £27,843.00 | £55,686.00 | £172,765.00 | £25,914.75 | £146,850.25 | 2.64 |
| Durham | £27,859.00 | £55,718.00 | £176,834.00 | £26,525.10 | £150,308.90 | 2.70 |
| Wigan | £28,970.00 | £57,940.00 | £184,541.00 | £27,681.15 | £156,859.85 | 2.71 |
| Doncaster | £27,661.00 | £55,322.00 | £187,706.00 | £28,155.90 | £159,550.10 | 2.88 |
| Glasgow | £29,557.00 | £59,114.00 | £200,957.00 | £30,143.55 | £170,813.45 | 2.89 |
Mojo Mortgages compared average earnings with house prices and found that 30 towns and cities in the UK were above the traditional 4.5 salary multiplier applied to borrowers.
But it found that buyers could still enjoy the buzz of a big city, without paying a premium, in Manchester and Birmingham where wages are above average and housing more affordable.
A couple buying a £235,650 home in Manchester would only need to borrow 3.77 times their salary, while in Birmingham it’d be 3.56 times for a £235,681 property.
Edinburgh and Glasgow are relatively affordable too, as are cities such as Liverpool, Newcastle and Leeds – but bargain hunters could also snap up a property in Hull borrowing just 2.30 times their salary, Bradford at 2.35 times or Gateshead at 2.38.