Variety of first time patrons fell 11% in 2022, says Halifax, as information reveals the common purchaser wants a £62,500 deposit to get onto the ladder
The variety of UK first-time patrons dropped by 11 per cent in 2022, in response to new information from Halifax, as the common deposit required soared to nearly £62,500.
Total, 362,461 patrons made it on to the housing ladder final 12 months, with the year-on-year fall following a document stage seen in 2021.
Common property values for first-time patrons at the moment are round 7.6 occasions the common UK wage, Halifax mentioned.
In 2022, the common value of a house for a first-time purchaser rose 13 per cent to £302,010, with common deposits now 21 per cent of buy value.
This implies on common a first-time purchaser wants to lift £62,470 for a deposit with the intention to purchase a house, 8 per cent greater than in 2021.

Almost two thirds of first time house purchases at the moment are completed in joint names
In 2021, the ‘race for area’, constructed up demand through the pandemic and the stamp obligation vacation, led to a document variety of patrons getting the keys to their first house.
The 2022 fist-time purchaser determine remained above pre-pandemic ranges and was the best determine since 2016.
Nonetheless, Halifax’s information did reveal that purchasing a house is turning into much less reasonably priced. It mentioned that just about two thirds (63 per cent) of mortgage completions at the moment are in joint names, with two or extra individuals.
This can be resulting from deposit and mortgage affordability constraints, which stay the most important barrier to first-time patrons proudly owning their very own property.
Knowledge from Nationwide has proven that first-time purchaser properties are the least reasonably priced they’ve been since 2008, as mortgage funds eat up 39 per cent of a purchaser’s wage.
Nonetheless, regardless of these hurdles, first-time patrons now account for over half (52 per cent) of all loans on properties – the best within the final decade.


The variety of first time patrons in 2022 exceeded figures seen pre-pandemic
Probably the most reasonably priced space for first-time patrons within the UK is West Dunbartonshire in Scotland, with patrons needing to borrow roughly 2.7 the common wage with the intention to purchase.
The least reasonably priced areas within the nation are in London. First-time patrons face common home costs of 10 occasions the common wage in the event that they wish to purchase in Westminster or Camden.
Needing to avoid wasting a bigger deposit signifies that the common age of a first-time purchaser is on the rise. A decade in the past, the standard first-time purchaser within the UK was aged 30, however that has now risen to 32.
>> On the hunt for a house? The primary-time purchaser’s information to getting a mortgage and climbing onto the property ladder


For first time patrons the common deposit wanted to get on to the ladder is now over £62,000
Kim Kinnaird, mortgages director at Halifax, mentioned: ‘Over 362,000 individuals acquired on the property ladder in 2022, with first-time patrons now accounting for over half of all house loans.
‘Consumers trying to make their first step onto the property ladder might welcome the forecasted fall in home costs this 12 months – offering the provision is there. Nonetheless, the price of buying a house remains to be important and saving for a deposit will be difficult for some first-time patrons.
‘The size of time wanted, and price of, elevating a deposit are seemingly having an affect on the profile of the common first-time purchaser over time. Immediately, these beginning out on the housing ladder are 32 years previous, on common – two years older than a decade in the past – and nearly two thirds of individuals at the moment are getting their first mortgage in joint names.’