Embargoed: Nationwide becomes UK's top lender for first-time buyers

22 February 2025

Nationwide has lent to more first-time buyers than any other bank or building society in the UK by prioritising those looking to get on the housing ladder.

According to latest industry data from CACI(1), Nationwide led for eight out of 12 months in 2024 and was the top lender for every month in the second half of the year. Nationwide provided over 180,000 mortgages in 2024 – with over one in three of these to first-time buyers.

This was supported by Nationwide increasing lending from 5.5 to six times’ income in late September through its Helping Hand mortgage boost, which enables higher loan to income lending and a maximum of 95 per cent loan-to-value – the only major provider to offer this level of lending helping to address the challenge of building a deposit and affordability.

Helping Hand launched in April 2021 and accounted for 23 per cent of Nationwide’s first-time buyer mortgages in 2024. In 2020, the average loan size for first-time buyers was c£159,000 and in 2024 it was c£197,000. For those who benefitted from Helping Hand, the average loan size last year was over a quarter higher (26%) at c£249,000.

Nationwide, like other lenders, is limited to lending no more than 15 per cent of its new loans to customers borrowing at or above 4.5 times their income – and currently earmarks the vast majority of this lending to first-time buyers. To help more first-time buyers, Nationwide is calling on the government to review this cap.

Henry Jordan, Nationwide’s Director of Home, said:

“We believe it’s important to put first-time buyers first given how tough it is to get on the housing ladder. Our enhanced Helping Hand mortgage is extremely popular with first-time buyers and we are committed to finding new ways to ease affordability. Increasing the loan-to-income lending cap would also enable lenders to support more first-time buyers.”