Number of mortgaged first-time buyers ‘up by nearly a fifth’ in 2025

The number of people who got on the property ladder with a mortgage across the UK last year is estimated by a building society to be up by nearly a fifth compared with 2024.

Yorkshire Building Society estimated that 390,324 first-time buyer mortgage transactions took place in 2025 – marking an 18% increase compared with 2024 and close to a recent peak in 2022 (405,250), which was partly driven by trends seen during the coronavirus pandemic.

To make its calculations for the year 2025, the building society used UK Finance mortgage completions data covering the period up to October 31 and also estimated figures for November and December, in line with previous first-time buyer patterns.

The society said the rise in people buying their first home reflected improved affordability following regulatory changes, industry innovation and falling interest rates.

Max Shepherd, group economist for Yorkshire Building Society, said first-time buyers had shown “remarkable resilience”, adding: “Tailwinds like real earnings growth, lower mortgage rates, and regulatory changes allowing lenders to lend borrowers more times their income are helping more people onto the ladder.

“But we must keep momentum going. We know how important the prospect of owning their own home is to people, yet many still struggle to save a deposit or meet affordability checks. We don’t want to see a growing divide between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ when it comes to homeownership.”

The society said the number of overall house purchases completed with mortgages was also expected to have risen by 16% to 717,588 in 2025, from 619,120 in 2024 – driven largely by first-time buyers, who made up around 54% of the total.

In December, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it wanted to enable “the mortgage market of the future”, with a market that adapted to fast-changing technology, employment and demographic shifts, and people’s needs and expectations, throughout their lives and into their later years.

The FCA’s plans to modernise the rules were focused on first-time buyers and underserved customers; later-life lending; innovation and disclosure; and protecting vulnerable customers.