Helping first-time buyers take the leap

For many aspiring homeowners, the journey to buying a first home can feel less like an exciting milestone and more like a marathon they never signed up for. With property prices remaining high and rents continuing to rise, many first-time buyers are finding it difficult to save for a deposit – especially when rent could cost more than a mortgage payment.

At Skipton we think it’s time the market and lenders adapted. We have a mindset that looks beyond a ‘typical’ buyer and we could work together to help make the first step onto the housing ladder feel possible for more people.

Understanding the challenge

In partnership with Oxford Economics, we launched the third edition of our Skipton Group Home Affordability Index to delve deep into the first-time buyer housing crisis. And the results are hard to ignore:

• Around five million adults are still living with their parents in Great Britain^**.
• 98% of adults living with their parents are unable to afford the average first-time buyer homes in their local area based on their financial situation^*.

It’s a wake-up call, and one we’re taking directly to policymakers. We’re pushing for sector-wide collaboration to unlock homeownership for a trapped generation. We want to see:

• Reforms made to property taxes to remove the burden on first-time buyers. We believe this could make a significant difference to improving the flow of the housing market. A healthy market relies on free movement: older owners downsizing, families upsizing and - of course - first-time buyers getting on the ladder. Policy should encourage that flow, not restrict it.
• Reforms to Lifetime ISAs and Cash ISAs. Both have acted as a valuable tool for many to save for a deposit, but we need to see reform from the government to meet the challenges of today and for the future.

We’re not just here to highlight the problem. We'd like to help fix it too. Over the past two years, we’ve launched a range of first-time buyer products designed to help you remove barriers and open doors for your clients. Products to help with affordability, low deposit cases and more.

Skip to hope - a new era for first-time buyers

Everyone deserves a place to call home, and together, we could help more people get there.

By thinking beyond standard lending approach and using these tools creatively, together we could find a route to ownership even for clients who might otherwise struggle. It’s about taking a flexible, common-sense approach that works in real life.

Helping people into homes has been part of who we are since 1853. Today, our purpose continues, and we’re determined to lower the ladder for the next generation of homeowners.

^{**Office for National Statistics (2021)}

^{*Skipton Group Home Affordability Index 2025}

^{For intermediary use only.}

^{Please read the following information carefully. If you do not agree or understand any part please do not use the Skipton Group Home Affordability Index, or act or omit to act in consequence of it.}

^{The Skipton Group Home Affordability Index is not a benchmark for the purposes of UK Benchmark Regulation, nor for the purposes of any other legislation or regulation. The Skipton Group Home Affordability Index is produced for information purposes only and must not be used or relied upon for commercial purposes, including as a reference for:}

• ^{determining an amount payable under a financial instrument or a financial contract;}
• ^{determining the value of a financial instrument; or}
• ^{measuring the performance of an investment fund with the purpose of:}
• ^{tracking the return of such index; or}
• ^{defining the asset allocation of a portfolio; or}
• ^{computing the performance fees.}

^{It must not be used for any decisions and/or advice.}