Mortgage lending to first time buyers in Greater London is 16% lower to the previous quarter according to the latest CML report.

According to the Council for Mortgage Lending (CML) the number of mortgages to first time buyers in the first quarter of 2015 is 10,100 and this figure is 16% lower compared to the last quarter of 2014.

In terms of value there were £2.4 billion of mortgages to first time buyers also down 16% on the previous quarter. Even so in London mortgage affordability remains an issue as house prices continue to rise.

Compared to the first quarter a year ago, the number of loans is lower by 14% and in terms of value the amount of borrowing has reduced by 11%.

Mortgage loans lower across UK

For first time buyers in the UK the number of mortgages were 61,300 in the first quarter of 2015, a decrease of 24% on the fourth quarter last year and 11% down on the same quarter last year.

In terms of value mortgage loans were £9.0 billion down 23% on the fourth quarter last year and 5% lower than the first quarter of 2014.

In London typical borrowing for first time buyers was 3.86 times income compared to the UK where borrowing was 3.36 times.

Loan sizes for Greater London for the first quarter was £213,750 down from £216,000 compared to the previous quarter. Across the country the figure also decreased and was £122,794 down from £124,450.

Household earnings for first time buyers in Greater London were much higher for the first quarter at £55,687 compared to the UK £38,139.

Other borrowers also decreasing

Greater London home movers also experienced an 18% decrease in numbers with mortgage loans advanced in the first quarter of 2015 reducing to 7,200 and by value is 15% down over the previous quarter.

By comparison for the whole country home movers were advanced 70,400 mortgages in the first quarter of 2015 which is a decrease of 25% and by value this was £13.5 billion down 22% over the previous period.

For remortgage buyers in London mortgage lending actually increased to 10,800 up 10% on the quarter. By volume this also increased 13% to £2.9 billion.

Across the UK remortgage buyers were up by a smaller amount of 3% on the quarter to 75,400 loans advanced. By volume this also increased 6% to £11.8 billion.

In contrast for older homeowners there is higher activity with equity release mortgage buyers accessing cash in their property for home improvements or holidays, or even buy a more expensive home.

What are your next steps?

Speak to our LCM mortgage advisers if you are planning to move home, buying your first home, remortgaging your existing home to a new cost effective mortgage deal or are a buy-to-let investor.

For equity release buyers our London City Mortgage brokers can recommend lifetime mortgages allowing you to receive cash from your property to help maintain your standard of living as costs rise.

Learn more by using the mortgage cost calculators, equity release mortgage calculator and property value tracker chart. Start with a free mortgage quote or call us and we can take your details.

Use your dashboard to access online mortgage quotes, money off vouchers and start your mortgage application online 24/7 on desktop, tablet or smartphone.