Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Newsroom from a report by Mortgage Solutions. Read the original article for full details.

Nearly Half of Top First-Time Buyer Brokerages Wrote No Interest-Only Mortgages

Gen H has reported that 47% of the top 100 first-time buyer brokerages in the UK wrote no interest-only mortgage business in 2025. Across the entire UK intermediary market, less than 0.5% of first-time buyer mortgages were interest-only or part and part.

The findings come ahead of the Financial Conduct Authority's (FCA) consultation deadline on 28 July regarding the potential widening of interest-only access for first-time buyers. Gen H's analysis highlights that interest-only products remain under-represented among first-time buyer offerings, despite being positioned as a way to address affordability and monthly payment challenges.

Of the 53 brokerages that did arrange any interest-only business, the median value of such mortgages was just 0.25% of their first-time buyer volumes. Only seven firms attributed more than 1% of their first-time buyer business to interest-only products.

The research also found that directly authorised (DA) brokerages were twice as likely as authorised representatives (ARs) to use interest-only products with first-time buyers. According to the FCA’s feedback statement from December 2025, sales of any form of interest-only product to first-time buyers have remained below 0.5% of all sales since 2013.

For letting agents and inventory clerks, these findings indicate that interest-only mortgages remain a niche product for first-time buyers, with limited uptake across the market. The ongoing FCA consultation may influence future product availability and could impact affordability options for new entrants to the property market.