…. but first-time buyers still struggle

For first-time buyers and remortgagers just getting a mortgage remains difficult, however. The moneyextra.com mortgage index showed that lending to first-time buyers with deposits of less than 5 per cent was non-existent while the supply of borrowing for those with 10 per cent cash to put down has decreased by 84 per cent compared to the same time last year. For first-time buyers the average loan to value was 71 per cent, compared with 82 per cent last year, while for people looking to re-mortgage the average loan to value ratio was 69 per cent compared to 82 per cent last year.