First-Time Home Buyers in UK Hit Decade Low in 2023

Despite soaring borrowing costs and high inflation, first-time buyers remain determined to enter the housing market, with potential improvements expected in 2024.

• First-time home buyers obtaining a mortgage in the UK fell to an estimated 290,000 in 2023, the lowest number in a decade, according to Yorkshire Building Society.
• High borrowing costs, rising inflation, and record rent increases have made it more difficult for prospective buyers to save for a deposit.
• Despite the challenges, first-time buyers remain determined to enter the housing market, with almost half of new buyers in their 20s relying on cash gifts or loans to buy their first home.
• Analysts predict that conditions for buyers may improve in 2024, with expectations that the Bank of England will start cutting interest rates, potentially easing mortgage rates.
• Despite the decline, first-time buyers made up a slightly larger proportion of all homebuyers in 2023, at 54%, up from 53% in 2022.

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