Across London and the South East of England the loan-to-income ratio is approximately 3.65 times, higher than other regions, analysis from brokerage platform Acre has found.
However, this rises significantly when looking to London’s outer postcodes of Bromley (BR), Croydon (CR), Southall (UB), Enfield (EN), Sutton & Morden (SM) where the loan-to-income ratio rises with UB being the highest at 4.16x.
Average first-time buyer loans in these regions exceed £250,000, a substantial difference compared to the rest of England, where loans average than £189,000.
Acre analysis suggests mortgage lenders are showing more appetite to lend at higher loan-to-incomes.
Northern England demonstrates more cautious borrowing, with first-time buyers not extending themselves beyond a 3.2x loan-to-income ratio and all areas except Cumbria and Newcastle having an average LTI well under 3x.
Scotland shows a lower 2.86x loan-to-income ratio, yet the percentage of loan to property value is among the highest in the UK, with FTBs borrowing an average of 82% of the property’s value. The average loan for first-time buyers in Scotland is now £167,508.
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