According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), first-time buyers have been “driving the mortgage market forward” in the past year. The total number of loans to first-time buyers reached 268,800 in 2013, the CML said that was about 44% of all home loans advanced for house purchases in 2013.
This was the highest proportion since the year 2000. Many have suggested that a large explanation is that first-time buyers are feeling pressure to get on the property ladder as prices are starting to rise. First-time buyer numbers picked up strongly towards the end of the year, which the CML said was healthy for the market as a whole. According to the CML, the introduction of government-backed schemes such as Help to Buy has helped to drive the market.
The CML has warned, however, that with demand building, the process of securing a mortgage would become “more cumbersome and lengthy” for borrowers. For more information contact our Residential Conveyancing Department on 020 8502 3991.