What is the percentage of first time buyers vs homemovers in the uk

16 April 2026

The exact split depends on how you measure the market (mortgages vs all purchases, full year vs monthly snapshot), but the UK picture is broadly consistent:

📊 Latest indicative splits (2024–2026 data)

First-time buyers: ~55%–60% of buyers in many recent datasets Up to 67% of mortgaged buyers in some datasets
Home movers (existing owners): Roughly 30%–40% of buyers Around 19% of mortgaged buyers in one 2024 dataset About 31% of the mortgage market overall in 2023–24

🧮 Simple way to think about it

For a typical recent UK market snapshot:

First-time buyers: ~55–60%
Home movers: ~30–40%
(Remaining share = remortgages / investors depending on dataset)

⚠️ Why the percentages vary

Mortgage data vs total transactions: First-time buyers dominate mortgage stats more heavily.
Market conditions: When rates are high, fewer existing owners move → first-time buyer share rises.
Region: In places like London, first-time buyers can be closer to ~50% of purchases

📌 Bottom line

Right now, the UK housing market is unusually first-time buyer–heavy, with them making up the majority of buyers, while home movers are a smaller (but still significant) minority.

If you want, I can break this down by London vs rest of UK or show how the split has changed over time.