Housing affordability in the UK has worsened notably since 2020, with the share of income spent on mortgage payments rising for first-time and repeat buyers. In 2024, homebuyers spent, on average, 20.5 percent of their income on mortgage payments, up from 16.2 percent in 2020. First-time buyers spent a notably higher percentage than repeat buyers. One of the main factors for the declining affordability is the rising housing costs. House prices have increased rapidly since the COVID-19 pandemic. Mortgage rates have also soared since, leading to notably higher monthly payments.

Mortgage repayments as a percentage of monthly equivalised disposable household income, throughout the house price and income distribution.

Mortgage rates surged at an unprecedented pace in 2022, with the average 10-year fixed rate doubling between March and December of that year. In response to mounting inflation, the Bank of England implemented a series of rate hikes, pushing borrowing costs steadily higher. By October 2025, the average 10-year fixed mortgage rate stood at **** percent. As financing becomes more expensive, housing demand has cooled, weighing on market sentiment and slowing house price growth. How have the mortgage hikes affected the market? After surging in 2021, the number of residential properties sold fell significantly in 2023, dipping to just above *** million transactions. This contraction in activity also dampened mortgage lending. Between the first quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024, the value of new mortgage loans declined year-on-year for five consecutive quarters. Even as rates eased modestly in 2024 and housing activity picked up slightly, volumes remained well below the highs recorded in 2021. How are higher mortgages impacting homebuyers? For homeowners, the impact is being felt most acutely as fixed-rate deals expire. Mortgage terms in the UK typically range from two to ten years, and many borrowers who locked in historically low rates are now facing significantly higher repayments when refinancing. By the end of 2026, an estimated five million homeowners will see their mortgage deals expire. Roughly two million of these loans are projected to experience a monthly payment increase of up to *** British pounds by 2026, putting additional pressure on household budgets and constraining affordability across the market.

Mortgage interest rates in the UK were on a downward trend for more than a decade before soaring in 2022. In the first quarter of 2025, the average weighted interest rate stood at **** percent — nearly ***** times the interest rate in the first quarter of 2022. Mortgage rates also vary depending on the type of mortgage: Historically, fixed rate mortgages with a shorter term had on average lower interest rates. What types of mortgages are there? In terms of the type of interest rate, mortgages can be fixed and variable. A fixed interest rate is simply a mortgage where the rate of repayment is fixed, while a variable rate depends on the lender’s underlying variable interest rate. Furthermore, mortgages could be for a house purchase or for refinancing. The vast majority of mortgages in the UK are fixed rate mortgages for house purchase, and only a small share is for remortgaging. How big is the UK mortgage market? The UK has the largest mortgage market in Europe, amounting to over ** billion euros in gross residential mortgage lending as of the fourth quarter of 2024. When comparing the total outstanding residential mortgage lending, the UK also ranks first with about *** trillion euros.

About 1.4 million households with mortgages up for renewal in the United Kingdom (UK) will face increasing monthly costs by the end of 2024 because of the aggressive mortgage interest hikes since the beginning of 2022. For about one million of these households, the increase will be between one British pound and 300 British pounds, while for 388,000 households, the increase will be higher. By December 2026, the number of households with rising mortgage payments is projected at 3.9 million. Meanwhile, about two million mortgage borrowers are expected to benefit from reduced mortgage payments by the end of 2026.

The average cost of buying a property with a mortgage in Camden, London, was about ***** as high as in Croydon in June 2024. Despite experiencing one of the highest declines in property prices in the past year, Kensington and Chelsea remained the most expensive borough for residential real estate. The average cost of buying a new residential dwelling with a mortgage is usually higher than the original asking price. The amount of the down payment, interest payments placed on the repayment of the loan, and other added costs can amount to thousands of British pounds. Property prices in other cities in the UK Cambridge, Oxford, and Bristol were some of the other cities with costly housing markets. Despite the slowdown in the residential sector, many of the major cities in the UK continued to see house prices increase in 2023. Though the housing boom witnessed during the pandemic has come to an end, prices show little volatility, due to the high demand and chronic shortage of affordable housing. To buy or to rent? Buying has long been the better option for those who can afford it. Homebuyers can achieve monthly savings of several hundred British pounds, depending on the region. Nevertheless, the soaring mortgage rates and house prices in recent years have led to a narrowing gap between purchase and rental costs.

For the past decade, buying a home in the UK has been more affordable than renting one, when only considering the monthly costs. The renting versus buying gap fluctuated during the period and in 2016, it reached its highest value of 131 British pounds. In 2023, the monthly costs for a first-time buyer were 1,231 British pounds, compared to 1,258 British pounds for renters. Rental growth vs house price growth Housing costs in the UK have been on an uprise, with both renting and buying a home increasingly unreachable. Though the monthly costs of buying have consistently been lower in the past decade, house price growth has been much stronger than rental growth since the beginning of the pandemic. Additionally, buyers have been affected by the aggressive mortgage rate hikes, making acquiring their first home even less affordable. Barriers to homeownership Buying a home is not straightforward. For younger (18-40) potential first-time buyers, there are a number of barriers. Approximately one in three first-time buyers point out that raising a deposit was the main obstacle. Other reasons stopping buyers were not being able to take out a mortgage on their current income and poor credit ratings. Unsurprisingly, the highest share of people who buy a home with a mortgage was in the age group of 45 to 55-year-olds.

Due to interest rates decreasing in recent years, mortgages in the United Kingdom have become overall more affordable: In 2007, when mortgages were the least affordable, a home buyer spent on average **** percent of their income on mortgage interest and *** percent on capital repayment. In 2019, the year with the most affordable mortgages, mortgage interest accounted for *** percent and capital repayment was **** percent of their income. As interest rates increase in response to the rising inflation, mortgage affordability is expected to worsen. Though below the levels observed before 2007, the total mortgage repayment between 2022 and 2026 is expected to exceed ** percent of income.

Affordability ratios calculated by dividing house prices by gross annual residence-based earnings. Based on the median and lower quartiles of both house prices and earnings in England and Wales.

Most of the overdue money for bills and loans of people who sought debt advice in 2022 came from mortgage payments. On average, clients who came to the charity StepChange seeking credit counseling had nearly ***** British pounds for rent payments past due. Meanwhile, that group of people also owed over ***** British pounds on payments for dual fuel, which is a type of utility where households get their gas and electricity supply from the same provider.

This statistic shows the average mortgage payments in 2004, 2009 and 2014 in the United Kingdom (UK) as a percentage of total disposable income. It showed that the average percentage has varied noticeably in this time period. Although the mortgage payments as a share of disposable income in the UK dropped by around * percent between 2004 and 2009, they then increased by almost ***** percent by 2014.

Expenditure on rent by renters and mortgages by mortgage holders, by region and age from the Living Costs and Food Survey for the financial year ending 2022. Data is presented as a proportion of total expenditure and a proportion of disposable income.

The benchmark interest rate in the United Kingdom was last recorded at 4 percent. This dataset provides - United Kingdom Interest Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

The first-time buyer average mortgage increased across all regions in the United Kingdom in 2023. London had the largest average mortgage size at over ******* British pounds. This was because it was also the region with the most expensive hosing.

This statistic shows the mean mortgage value and average house prices in England in 2015/16 by length of time from the start of mortgage repayments. For those that have had a mortgage for more than 25 years the mean mortgage value was ** thousand British pounds and the average house price was ** thousand British pounds. For those that have got a mortgage within the last year the mean mortgage value was *** thousand and the average house price was *** thousand British pounds.

The median loan-to-value ratio in the United Kingdom (UK) for sales made in the fourth quarter of 2023 was approximately **** percent. This meant that the average mortgage covered **** percent of the property sales price, leaving the home acquirer to cover the remaining **** percent with their own savings. Regionally, it was North East where the highest average LTV ratio was seen, at ** percent. Number of mortgage loans In 2023, the number of mortgage sales (PSD) stood at just over *******, which was a decrease from the previous year when the number of mortgage sales dropped significantly. Mortgage interest rates The vast majority of mortgage loans were taken out with fixed interest rates. A fixed interest rate is simply a mortgage where the rate of repayment is fixed. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) defines a standard variable rate as "the rate that is the lender’s underlying variable interest rate”. It is not surprising that fixed interest rates are the preferred option for so many borrowers - two, three, five and ten year fixed interest rates saw a continuous decrease in recent years, before surging in 2022.

The UK housing market continued to show significant regional variations in 2025, with London maintaining its position as the most expensive city for homebuyers. The average house price in the capital stood at ******* British pounds in February, nearly double the national average. However, the market dynamics are shifting, with London experiencing only a modest *** percent annual increase, while other cities like Belfast and Liverpool saw more substantial growth of over **** percent respectively. Affordability challenges and market slowdown Despite the continued price growth in many cities, the UK housing market is facing headwinds. The affordability of mortgage repayments has become the biggest barrier to property purchases, with the majority of the respondents in a recent survey citing it as their main challenge. Moreover, a rising share of Brits have reported affordability as a challenge since 2021, reflecting the impact of rising house prices and higher mortgage rates. The market slowdown is evident in the declining housing transaction volumes, which have plummeted since 2021. European context The stark price differences are mirrored in the broader European context. While London boasts some of the highest property prices among European cities, a comparison of the average transaction price for new homes in different European countries shows a different picture. In 2023, the highest prices were found in Austria, Germany, and France.

When comparing the mortgage or rental costs incurred by owners with mortgage, private renters and social renters in England, private renters pay a considerably larger share of their income than the other two groups. While owner occupiers with mortgages paid approximately **** percent of their income on mortgage in 2024, private renters paid ** percent, or more than *********. In terms of average monthly costs, renting a three-bedroom house is more expensive than buying.