Average first-time buyer's mortgage hits record high

First-time buyers are taking out larger mortgages than ever before as rising wages and looser affordability tests allow them to buy properties that were previously beyond their budget.

- Tom Knowles

The average first-time buyer borrowed £210,800 in the year to September, a record high, according to analysis by Savills, the property agent. First-time buyers accounted for 20% of all spending in the UK housing market in the 12-month period, which is the highest level since at least 2007, it added.

This effect is even more pronounced in London, with separate research from the estate agent Hamptons revealing that first-time buyers made more than half of all purchases in the capital this year.

Savills said mortgage lenders loaned a record £82.8bn to 390,000 first-time buyers in the period, a 30% increase on the previous year. The larger mortgages come as some first-time buyers skip the traditional first rung of the property ladder and buy a house rather than a flat. The average age of a first-time buyer is 34, according to the Mortgage Advice Bureau, while 31% have children by the time they get on the property ladder.