The northern powerhouse city where first-time buyers are snapping up properties

High house prices, mortgage costs and rents have made getting on the property ladder a challenge for first-time buyers. However, one major northern English city is proving popular among those keen to dip their toes into the market.

The “Capital of the North”, Manchester, had the highest share of homes bought by first-time buyers outside of London in 2025, according to new research by Lloyds Bank. Of all home purchases in the city, 70.2% were by people getting onto the property ladder.

The analysis looked at the locations outside London where first-time buyers made up the highest proportion of all mortgaged home purchases.

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Lloyds said Manchester was pulling in buyers due to the range of property types available and relative affordability compared to the rest of Britain. Manchester’s booming economy and abundant job prospects were further draws for buyers.

It said the average first-time buyer house price in Manchester is £230,090, almost £25,000 below the average first-time buyer price (£254,920) across Britain.

Amanda Bryden, head of mortgages at Lloyds, said: “Affordability is the number one priority for most first‐time buyers, and we’re seeing more people cast their net wider to find places that match both their lifestyle and their budget.

“That flexibility can quite literally open up more doors. Manchester is a magnet for those seeking modern city-living.”

Where else are first-time buyers purchasing properties?

First-time buyers are also seeking properties across the Midlands and East of England, according to the Lloyds research.

Of the top 10 areas with the biggest share of first-time buyers across England, Wales and Scotland, eight were in these two regions.

In Sandwell, West Midlands, first-time buyers made up 69.7% of the market while in Birmingham (West Midlands) and Luton (East of England) this figure was 69.4%.

Thurrock (East of England), Leicester and Oadby (East Midlands) and Coventry (West Midlands) also featured in the top 10 list.

First-time buyers in these areas made up 68.2%, 66.9% and 66.5% of all home purchases, respectively, in 2025.

Across Wales, the area with the highest first-time buyer market share was in Rhondda Cynon Taf, where entry level buyers made up 57.9% of all home purchases.

In Scotland, Glasgow, the country’s biggest city by population, was the area where first-time buyers were snapping up the largest proportion of homes (57.9%).

Credit: Lloyds Bank

Where are first-time buyers gaining ground in the UK?

Worcester, in the West Midlands, saw the biggest jump in the number of first-time buyers purchasing homes between 2024 and 2025, Lloyds said.

Just 40.6% of all homes bought in the area in 2024 was made up of first-time buyers, but this leapt to 58.7% in 2025.

Runnymede in the South East saw the second biggest rise. In 2024, entry level buyers made up 47.1% of the market share, but this increased to 62.4% in 2025.

Next was East Hampshire in the South East, where 33.2% of all homes were bought by first-time buyers in 2024, rising to 48.8% in 2025.

Credit: Lloyds Bank

Top tips for first-time buyers

MoneyWeek spoke to Nick Mendes, mortgage technical manager at broker John Charcol, who shared his top tips for first-time buyers facing a tricky market.

1. Understand your ‘true’ borrowing capacity

Work out how much you can actually afford to borrow before setting your sights on a property and realising it’s out of your budget.

Online mortgage calculators are useful for getting a basic idea of how much you can borrow but these generally won’t factor in things like overtime, bonuses, student loans and childcare costs.

A broker can help you sense-check the numbers early on and save you the disappointment of viewing a property that you consequently realise is out of reach.

Do note, brokers may charge you a fee for their services, may take a commission from the bank or lender, or might even do both. Fees can vary between £400 and £500, according to Unbiased.co.uk.

2. Have a deposit strategy

Often the larger the deposit, the better the mortgage rate you’ll be offered and the more equity you’ll hold in your home, but it’s not always worth trying to build up a big deposit.

“In some cases, buying with a 5% or 10% deposit sooner can make sense, particularly if rents are high and prices in your target area are moving upwards,” Mendes said.

3. Keep your credit score in check

It is possible to be approved for a mortgage with bad credit history, but you’ll likely be offered a higher interest rate and may need to foot a bigger deposit.

So keep an eye on your credit profile in the six to 12 months before applying for a mortgage and make sure you don’t do anything that dents it.

“Small issues like missed payments, taking out lots of credit or taking out new finance can have a disproportionate impact,” Mendes said.

You can counteract this by keeping credit balances low and avoiding applying for new credit. Beware of making too many bank switches as well, as this can impact your score.

4. Look for ways to stretch affordability

Some lenders will offer enhanced mortgage income multiples to those with higher salaries. A mortgage income multiple is the multiple of your annual income that a lender will use to determine the maximum size of mortgage loan you can afford. A higher multiple means they are willing to lend you a bigger maximum amount.

For example, Barclays recently increased its maximum loan-to-income (LTI) to six times income for borrowers with combined incomes of at least £75,000.

Meanwhile, signing up for a longer fixed-term mortgage deal means a lender might let you borrow more as they’re not subject to stricter stress-testing rules imposed by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Bear in mind, fixing your mortgage for longer generally means you’ll be offered a higher interest rate, as lenders have less certainty over where the market will be in five or 10 years’ time, so they are taking more of a risk by allowing you to fix for a longer period.