Market data from estate agency software provider Alto reveals a sharp downturn in first-time buyer demand since the government’s stamp duty changes on 1st April.
The data, which is based on activity from 6,000 UK estate agents, shows a 70% increase in first-time buyer registrations in early 2024, but by the first quarter of 2025 offers had dropped to 55% of the previous year’s numbers.
And, in a nationwide poll of 250 estate agents, 41% said they’d seen drop in new first-time buyer registrations, 47% said buyers were more cautious and fewer offers were being made, and 18% reported a fall in first-time buyer viewings.
One South East-based agent told Alto: ‘Home buyers are slashing their budgets, dragging their feet – or walking away at the eleventh hour. I haven’t seen this much hesitation in years’.
According to Alto’s data, first-time buyers now account for less than 20% of viewings – which CEO Riccardo Iannucci-Dawson said ‘should be a wake-up call for policymakers’.
He added:
“If the goal is to build a fairer, more accessible housing market, we urgently need more targeted support for first time buyers.”
Survey respondents said measures including stamp duty relief up to £500,000, 5% deposit mortgage schemes for renters, higher LTV mortgage options, more accessible financial education for young buyers, and cheaper starter homes would help to boost the first-time buyer market.
