First-time buyer numbers hit a 12-year high in 2018 as government policies to put more young people on the housing ladder appeared to pay off.
Lenders extended 370,000 mortgages to first-time buyers last year, a 1.9% increase on the year before, according to figures from UK Finance, the trade body.
New buyers helped to shore up what was otherwise a lacklustre property market. For the first time since 1995, there were more purchases by first-time buyers than movers. The number of home-mover mortgages fell by 1.9% to 367,800.
