Average mortgage term up two years to 32, as first-time-buyers extend repayments to get on the ladder

•       Average age of first-time buyers down from 32 to 31 in a year

•       TSB reveals regional map of first-time buyers – with most completions in Scotland, the South East and North West

•       Video banking helping to speed up completions – with 50 percent reduction in days between application and offer

New data from TSB shows a year-on-year increase of the average mortgage term for first-time buyers – up to 32 years in 2023 from 30 in 2021[1].

Overall, first-time buyers accounted for 35%[2] of all mortgage completions in 2023 – with the average age of FTBs at 31, marginally down on 32 in 2022[3].

More than half (57%) of first-time buyers took out a joint mortgage for their first home, with 43 percent purchasing their home solo.

Across the UK, Scotland edged first place in the number of first-time buyers at TSB (17%), followed by the South East (16%) and North West (12%).

Video banking offers customers a speedier route to securing their mortgage  

TSB’s video banking technology contributed to halving the average time it takes a customer to receive their mortgage offer – down to just 11 days from 22[4], helping homeowners, and aspiring first-time buyers clinch the best deal in a rapidly changing mortgage market.

Video banking has fast become the most popular and efficient route for sealing a deal – and accounted for almost two-thirds (63%) of appointments in which customers purchased a mortgage directly from TSB in 2023.

Offering convenience such as giving joint customers the ability to join a call from different locations, and offering appointments outside of normal business hours, seven days a week (37% of appointments conducted this way) – it’s a growing channel of choice for TSB’s mortgage customers.  

Roland McCormack, TSB Mortgage Distribution Director, said:

“Across the UK, the drive to get onto the property ladder is bigger than ever – with first-time buyers taking out extended repayment terms to acquire a home.

“At TSB, video banking is proving a popular and convenient route to securing a mortgage and has helped halve the time taken for customers to secure a deal in a rapidly changing mortgage market.”