An increase in mortgage searches by first-time buyers – including people in their 50s and 60s – was recorded in the first three months of the year.
The data was taken from Legal & General Mortgage Services’ Ignite platform, which is used by brokers to source product information.
Broker searches for first-time buyers increased by 45 per cent in the first quarter of 2025 compared with the fourth quarter of 2024.
The figure for those aged 56 to 65 surged by 80 per cent, and for people aged 18 to 30 it was up by 53 per cent.
First-time buyer searches involving people aged 31 to 40 increased more slowly, by 37 per cent, while in the 41 to 50 age group there was a 34 per cent increase and in the 51 to 55 age group there was a 44 per cent rise.
From April 1, stamp duty discounts became less generous for some home buyers, with the nil rate threshold for first-time buyers reducing from £425,000 to £300,000. Stamp duty applies in England and Northern Ireland.
L&G’s Mortgage Services business is involved in nearly a quarter of UK mortgages.
It said that, as well as trying to beat the stamp duty deadline, some buyers may have also been motivated by mortgage rate cuts, with some deals recently dropping below four per cent.
The most searched loan-to-value (LTV) category for first-time buyers was in the five per cent to nine per cent deposit range, making up around a third (34 per cent) of requests, according to L&G, but there was also an increase in searches for deals with bigger deposits.
Kevin Roberts, managing director of mortgage services at L&G, said: “A strong start to the year for first-time buyers is more than encouraging – it’s a positive sign of the market’s health as we head into spring, a traditionally busy period for property sales and new listings.”
