If there are more ways to make homeownership a realistic prospect, it stands to reason that more people will start considering their mortgage options.
I say this following the government’s announcement of its proposed ‘Your First Home’ scheme, aimed at helping those “who have given up hope of ever having a home to call their own” get on the property ladder. But beyond the immediate discussion about who the scheme might help, there is another question worth considering. If we succeed in bringing a new group of predominantly younger buyers into the market, are advice firms set up to serve them in the way they expect, or indeed demand?
First-time buyers already form a hugely significant part of the mortgage market. Recent ONS figures show there were 379,207 first-time buyer mortgage sales in 2025, representing 52.8% of all mortgage sales, compared with 33.8% in 2006.
Our own RESEARCH data also points to the continued strength of first-time buyer activity. Between June and September 2026, more than 1.3 million first-time buyer mortgage searches were carried out, 3.1% more than during the same four months of 2025. Three of those four months recorded higher search volumes than a year earlier.
Given the scale of this activity, how firms engage with this audience deserves just as much attention as the numbers themselves. Many younger consumers are used to researching and managing their finances online, and those habits will inevitably influence what they expect from the mortgage process and the firms they choose to deal with.
Barratt Homes’ First Time Buyers Report 2026 provides an interesting indication of what that might look like. It found that 64% of prospective first-time buyers regarded online searches as a trusted source of mortgage information, while 68% would still turn to a mortgage broker for information.
The way buyers find that information is changing too. One in five said they would trust AI chatbots for mortgage advice, compared with just 7% who would turn to social media. Yet the continued preference for brokers suggests that greater use of digital tools does not necessarily reduce the value placed on human support.
This points towards an experience where the two work together. A prospective buyer may want to make contact from their phone, provide information digitally and complete straightforward tasks at a time that suits them, while still valuing the knowledge and reassurance of an adviser when the conversation becomes more complex.
There is also a practical consideration for advice firms. We’ve all seen periods when mortgage activity rises quickly and the response is for advisers and support teams to work longer and squeeze more into already busy days. That may get a business through a temporary spike, but it is not necessarily the best way to prepare for the next one.
A more sustainable approach is to build capacity around advisers in advance, which means looking at the work surrounding the advice itself. Initial enquiries, information gathering, routine communication and early client engagement all require resource, but not every element needs to be handled personally by an adviser.
Dedicated client engagement platforms can help here by providing a digital environment through which prospective clients can interact with a firm and complete more of the early stages of the process. Used effectively, this can reduce manual administration and give advisers more time to concentrate on the parts of the relationship that require their expertise.
Importantly, that relationship may begin well before someone is ready to apply for a mortgage. A prospective first-time buyer may first approach a firm months before they are in a position to proceed, particularly if a new scheme or product has prompted them to reconsider what might be possible.
The ability to engage with those people during this earlier stage creates an opportunity to develop the relationship without every contact adding to an adviser’s workload. It also means firms can be better prepared when those prospective buyers reach the point where they need advice, rather than having to respond to each increase in activity by simply asking their people to do more.
Ultimately, attracting the next generation of first-time buyers is only part of the opportunity. Firms also need an advice model capable of supporting them from their first enquiry onwards. Providing the digital experience younger buyers increasingly expect, backed by access to a trusted adviser when they need it, can help firms serve more clients while preserving the human relationship that remains so important.
