First home bought sooner than planned

Mortgages: New research from The Nottingham Building Society reveals the pandemic may have helped some of those saving up to buy their first home to do this sooner than they had planned.

Some 23 per cent of those planning to buy their first property say they have been able to save more during the lockdown. One in five also say they should be able to buy sooner because mortgage rates have fallen during the crisis, partly due to the Bank of England base rate dropping to 0.1 per cent in March, its lowest rate ever.

Of these people, 36 per cent think lower mortgage rates could help them buy their first home six months earlier than planned.