Looking for your first home and getting your foot on the property ladder is a massive milestone. Along with saving up for a deposit and finding the perfect home, you also need to find the best first-time buyer mortgage for you. We look at the latest statistics on first-time buyers in the UK.
According to government data, the average age of a first-time buyer in England is now 33 years and 11 months (33.9 years), an increase of almost a year and a half in the past decade and more than 3 and years since 2007.
The age of a first-time buyer has been mostly trending upward since the banking crisis in 2007 and 2008, in part due to stricter mortgage lending rules and house price rises.
| Year | Average age of a first-time buyer in England |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 33.9 |
| 2024 | 33.8 |
| 2023 | 33.5 |
| 2022 | 33.5 |
| 2021 | 32.4 |
| 2020 | 32.2 |
| 2019 | 32.9 |
| 2018 | 32.9 |
| 2017 | 33.2 |
| 2016 | 32.4 |
| 2015 | 32.5 |
| 2014 | 32.8 |
| 2013 | 32.4 |
| 2012 | 31.6 |
| 2011 | 32 |
| 2010 | 31.9 |
| 2009 | 31.7 |
| 2008 | 30.9 |
| 2007 | 30.3 |
The average age of a first-time buyer in London is now 34.5. This has increased from a first-time buyer age of 32.6 in the capital in 2016 but is down from last year’s age of 34.8 and from a decade-high of almost 37 years old in 2019.
| Year | Average age of a first-time buyer in London | Average age of a first-time buyer outside of London |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 34.5 | 33.8 |
| 2024 | 34.8 | 33.6 |
| 2023 | 35.3 | 33 |
| 2022 | 33.8 | 33.4 |
| 2021 | 33.8 | 32.1 |
| 2020 | 34.5 | 31.8 |
| 2019 | 36.7 | 32.1 |
| 2018 | 34.5 | 32.6 |
| 2017 | 34.1 | 33.1 |
| 2016 | 32.6 | 32.3 |
| 2015 | 32.9 | 32.5 |
In 2025, there were 967,000 first-time buyers in the UK. This is down slightly from last year, when there were a total of 975,060 first-time buyers, but has increased by 71% since 2015, when there were just 564,000 first-time buyers.
During the past 20 years, there has been an average of around 739,000 first-time home buyers each year.
| Year | Number of first-time buyers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 967,000 |
| 2024 | 975,000 |
| 2023 | 874,000 |
| 2022 | 852,000 |
| 2021 | 957,000 |
| 2020 | 827,000 |
| 2019 | 727,000 |
| 2018 | 785,000 |
| 2017 | 671,000 |
| 2016 | 654,000 |
| 2015 | 564,000 |
The average house price for a UK first-time buyer in January 2026 was £226,000, up 1.3% from the previous year.
House prices for first-time buyers vary across UK regions, with the highest average price of £472,000 in London. The second highest prices for first-time buyers can be found in the South East of England, with the average house price at £299,000.
The North East boasts the lowest average house price for first-time buyers, with an average cost of £139,000, followed closely by Scotland with an average price of £155,000.
London house prices for first-time buyers are more than double the UK average, while house prices in the North East are just two-fifths (62%) of the average house price in the UK. There is a substantial difference in house prices in different parts of the UK, which is a factor many first-time buyers will want to consider.
| Region | Average first-time buyer house price |
|---|---|
| London | £472,000 |
| South East | £299,000 |
| East of England | £277,000 |
| South West | £249,000 |
| West Midlands | £210,000 |
| East Midlands | £207,000 |
| North West | £186,000 |
| Wales | £181,000 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | £179,000 |
| Scotland | £155,000 |
| North East | £139,000 |
The average first-time buyer deposit in the UK is £61,090, approximately 20% of the average house price for a first-time buyer, which is £311,034.
However, the average deposit for a first-time buyer in London is £124,688, more than double the national average! The South East follows London and is also higher than the national average, with an average deposit of £61,744.
In other regions across the UK, you can expect to pay less than the national average for your deposit. The North East has the lowest average first-time buyer deposit of £30,678. This is around a quarter of the average London deposit for first-time buyers.
| Region | Average first-time buyer deposit |
|---|---|
| London | £124,688 |
| South East | £61,744 |
| East of England | £56,526 |
| South West | £55,083 |
| Scotland | £43,537 |
| West Midlands | £42,898 |
| East Midlands | £40,402 |
| Wales | £39,877 |
| North West | £39,574 |
| Northern Ireland | £37,898 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | £36,731 |
| North East | £30,678 |
The average deposit percentage for UK first-time buyers was 20% of the purchase price in 2024, meaning they would have to take out the remaining 80% as a mortgage.
You can have a minimum of 5% of the purchase price as a deposit to buy your first home and take out the remaining 95% as a mortgage. Generally speaking, if you can put down more as a deposit, you can access better deals and rates on your mortgage.
Londoners take the crown for the largest deposit as a percentage of the house price, at 24%. First-time buyers in the East Midlands and the East of England are putting down the smallest deposit percentage, at 16% of the overall purchase price on average.
Matt Mckenna
UK Head of Communications
T: +44 20 8191 8806
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