More first-time buyers securing a mortgage

First-time buyers are securing mortgage finance in ever-greater numbers, according to figures from mortgage arrangers.

Three-quarters (74 percent) of first-time buyer applications for a mortgage made through an intermediary were approved in the last quarter of 2017, up from 53 percent in the same period a year earlier.

Almost nine out of 10 (88 percent) first-time buyers secured a mortgage offer in the last three months of 2017, up from 73 percent on the year before.

The figures were revealed by the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association (IMLA), showing that first-time buyers led the way in securing finance to buy property in 2017.

The IMLA, the trade body for UK mortgage lenders using professional financial intermediaries, uses data to analyse the success rate for those applying for and securing a mortgage via an intermediary, such as a financial advisor, tracking their progress from start to finish.

With figures from UK Finance, the industry body for the mortgage lending industry, showing that first-time buyer numbers hit a 10-year high last year, the latest data from the IMLA demonstrated that 84 percent of those who received an offer in principle from a lender went on to complete their purchase in the last quarter of 2017, up from 72 percent a year earlier.

Across 2017, almost nine out of 10 (87 percent) first-time buyer applications received an offer with 81 percent going on to complete their purchase.

Kate Davies, executive director of the IMLA, said: "The mortgage market has proved itself to be resilient over the last year, and intermediaries have continued to play a vital role in joining the dots between lender supply and consumer demand.

"In particular, first-time buyers have benefited from widely available and competitively priced deals, even before the extra confidence boost of the Stamp Duty exemption announced in the Autumn Budget. Mortgage lenders can play their part in supporting access for first-time buyers, and our figures show they are clearly doing so."