First-time buyers accounted for 35% of all house purchase mortgages in April, the lowest level since September 2007, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).
The proportion of first-time buyers was down from 39% in March and 38% in April 2009 and highlights the continuing difficulties new buyers have accessing a mortgage without a substantial deposit. The CML figures revealed that, overall, 40,000 loans were advanced for house purchase in April worth £5.7bn, down from 45,000 (worth £6.3bn) in March. Yet, this was up on April 2009's figure of 35,000 loans (worth £4.5 billion). The CML said April's dip was expected due to the Easter break and the underlying trend is of a gradual recovery in house purchase lending. Nevertheless, remortgage...
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