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First-time buyers are being enticed back to London by lower mortgage rates after the cost of purchasing a home fell back below renting, estate agents revealed today.
Some 48 per cent of all properties sold in the capital in the first six months of this year went to first-time buyers, up from 41 per cent last year and 28 per cent in 2014.
The data from estate agent Hamptons also revealed Brent is the most popular London borough for first-time-buyers, who now make up 77 per cent of sales there.
This was followed by Greenwich at 72 per cent and then the East London boroughs of Newham at 69 per cent; Tower Hamlets at 63 per cent; Barking and Dagenham at 60 per cent; Havering at 59 per cent; and Waltham Forest at 54 per cent.
The study reveals a turnaround from the increase seen over the past decade of first-time buyers leaving London to live in more affordable commuter suburbs.
Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons, said: ‘Falling mortgage rates are starting to turn the tide on the rising number of first-time buyers leaving London.
‘Lower mortgage payments have pulled the cost of buying back below renting, bringing relief to those looking for their first home in the capital.
‘First-time buyers with deeper pockets are looking again at London, choosing Clapham over Crawley and Wembley over Wycombe.’
The company now estimates that first-time buyers will purchase 76,000 homes outside London this year, down from a post-Covid peak of 100,910 in 2022.
But some suburbs are seeing a huge rise in demand from first-time buyers looking to move from London, including Waverley in Surrey which is up 257 per cent.
Brent is the most popular London borough for first-time-buyers, who now make up 77 per cent of sales, according to data from Hamptons. The borough is home to Wembley Stadium
First-time buyers make up 72 per cent of house sales in Greenwich, South East London
This was followed by Stroud in Gloucestershire up 160 per cent and Horsham in West Sussex up 154 per cent, according to The Times.
The average home bought by a first-time buyer outside the capital currently costs £642 a month less than one in London.
In addition, the average first-time buyer leaving London moved 23.8 miles this year, which was 2.6 miles less than last year.
And the share of people moving from London to the countryside was 3 per cent in the first half of this year, having halved from 6 per cent in 2020.
Land Registry data shows the average house in London now costs £523,000 compared to £305,000 for the rest of England.
In addition, the cheapest five-year fixed mortgage rate has now fallen below 4 per cent – having hit an average high of over 6 per cent after the disastrous mini-budget of September 2022.
** Are you a first-time buyer in London? Please email: tips@dailymail.com **