Spike in first-time buyer mortgage approvals

First-time buyers and others with small deposits took a greater share of the market than last month, with overall approval levels also up compared to August.

• Summer ends with good news for small deposit borrowers
• Larger deposit borrowers see market share squeezed
• Northern regions are best area for young buyers

As the summer drew to a close, the latest Mortgage Monitor from e.surv, the UK’s largest residential chartered surveyors, found that there were 66,704 mortgages approved during the month of September (seasonally adjusted).

The market continued to be affected by both the final days of warm weather, and the continued impact of the Bank of England’s base rate rise.

With the base rate having increased on 2nd August –  September was the first month many homeowners would have received their new, higher mortgage bills if they are on a standard variable rate (SVR).

First-time buyers were not affected by such matters, and there was a strong increase in the proportion of the market occupied by these borrowers.

Young buyers may have been helped onto the ladder by the fact house price growth has slowed across many areas of the country.

Lower prices mean that would-be buyers can achieve their dream of home ownership much sooner, and this appears to have been borne out by these figures.