The number of first-time buyers in a year in Scotland has almost doubled in a decade, according to new research.
Figures from the Bank of Scotland show 33,558 people entered the property market in 2019 compared to 17,580 in 2009 – an increase of more than 90%.
First-time buyers account for 50% of all housing purchases with a mortgage in Scotland, up from 38% in 2009.
Ricky Diggins, operations director at Bank of Scotland, said: “We’ve seen a big uplift in the number of first-time buyers in Scotland over the last decade and they continue to account for around half of all purchases.
READ MORE: New £150m loan scheme for first-time buyers
“This shows just how important they are to the health of the Scottish property market, a situation that’s been helped by a number of factors including Government schemes and continued low interest rates.
“Scotland also remains one of the most affordable areas in the whole of the UK, with both average prices and deposits much lower than the overall average across the four nations.”
He added: “That only tells part of the story though, with significant differences seen in many local areas, and locations such as Edinburgh and East Lothian looking more challenging for those aiming to take that first step onto the property ladder.”
The cost of a typical first home went up by 38% – £41,687 – in Scotland over the last 10 years, from £111,402 in 2009 to £152,728 in 2019.
Meanwhile, the average deposit put down by a first-time buyer increased by 13% over the same period, from £26,427 to £29,950.
READ MORE: Scottish first-time buyer numbers more than double in a decade
From 2018 to 2019, the typical price paid by a first-time buyer in Scotland rose by 8% (£10,771), while the average deposit was up by 11% (£2,879).
Scotland remains one of the most affordable places in the UK to buy a first property, with only Northern Ireland at £136,850 and the north of England at £136,104 recording a lower average price for first-time buyers in 2019.
This compares to a UK average first-time buyer price of £231,455, while the average UK deposit last year for first-time buyers was £46,187.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel