, by as much as 10 per cent, they have risen significantly in previous years.
The overall number of first-time buyers is still higher than pre-pandemic levels but down 11 per cent on 2021’s record high of 405,320, sitting at 362,461 in 2022. Prices were unusually high in 2021 thanks to the “race for space” – pent up demand from the pandemic and Government measures to ease stamp duty costs, leading to a record number of first-time buyers getting the keys to their first home.for first-time buyers now around 7.6 times the average UK salary.
Separate data from the Office of National Statistics last year showed house prices grew faster than earnings in 91 per cent of local authority districts,