Affability worsens for Britain’s first-time buyers

First-time buyers across the UK are paying out increasingly large portions of their monthly incomes to pay off interest on their mortgage loans, according to the latest figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML).

Data released by the CML shows that in August the average proportion of a first-time buyers’ income paid out to satisfy interest charges on a mortgage loan stood at 20 per cent, up from 19.7 per cent in the previous month.

Mortgage-related debt management is becoming a heavier burden for all of Britain’s homeowners, but is at its worst for 16 years for first-time buyers, the council’s latest figures reveal.

“Affordability clearly remains challenging,” said Michael Coogan, the CML’s director general.

He went on to suggest that: “As lenders move to price for the risk they are taking on, mortgages are set to become more expensive for customers who have poorer credit histories.”

The CML revealed in August that around 14,000 properties were repossessed in the UK during the first six months of this year.