Research from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) has found that the number of first time buyers is likely to be around 400,000 per year for the next few years. The report showed that around 20% of those classed as first time buyers are in fact 'returners' who were previously homeowners, but then left owner-occupation for some reason.
These people tend to have different characteristics from first time buyers, as they have higher deposits and are older than real first timer buyers. Because they are included in the first time buyer data, it probably means that affordability problems for true first time buyers are understated.
Our view
Helpful to know that there are plenty of new buyers around still driving the property market.