Number of first time buyers reached 12 year high in 2018

The number of people buying their first home reached a 12 year high in the UK in 2018 with 370,000 getting a mortgage for the first time, the latest industry figures show. Overall the number increased by 1.9% compared with 2017, the highest number of first time buyer mortgages since 2006 and the £62 billion of new lending in 2018 was 4.9% up year on year, according to the trends update report from UK Finance. There were 30,900 new first time buyer mortgages completed in December 2018, up 1.6% compared with the same month a year earlier and the £5.2 billion of new lending in the month was 4% higher.