London vs the rest of the UK - first-time buyers spending double

Average first-time buyers in London spend double the amount paid by those across the rest of Britain.

A typical London buyer now spends £420,132 on their first home, compared to an average of £210,515 across the rest of the country.

The cost of a first-time buyer property in the capital has increased by 64% since 2013, up from £255,794.

Research by Lloyds Bank shows that the average first-time buyer deposit in London (£92,833) is also more than twice the value of the national average (£39,668).

The number of first-time buyers in London has fallen by 5% over the last five years - down to 42,983, representing just 12% of all first-timers in the UK (down from 17% in 2013).

Away from the capital, Lloyds reports that the number of first-time purchasers across the rest of the UK has risen for six consecutive years.

When it comes to deposits, first-timers in the London Borough of Camden pay the highest on average (£175,844), while the largest rise in typical deposit paid over the last five years was recorded in Haringey (rising from £63,447 to £131,827).

Meanwhile, the average age of a first-time buyer in the UK is now 31 years old. In London, this average rises to 34 years old.

The typical age of a first-time buyer in the London boroughs of Barnet, Sutton and Harrow, however, is now 39 years old.

“Despite the recent slowdown in London house prices this latest data shows how expensive it has become to live in the capital, particularly for young people trying to get on the ladder for the first time," says Andrew Mason, Lloyds Bank's mortgage products director.

“While property prices drop as you head to the fringes of the capital, this gap is closing as house price growth in outer London boroughs is continuing to increase at a greater pace than inner London boroughs." 

"This healthy growth may be linked to a high demand for these more affordable properties as well as some areas benefiting from the new Crossrail link due to open next year as commuters move further afield,” he says.