New research from Connells Group, the UK’s leading property services group, has revealed a significant 39% increase in first-time buyer registrations in Q3, underlining the growing desire for homeownership despite ongoing affordability constraints.
The group has published its latest Shared Ownership Factsheets for Q3 2025, which highlight the growing demand from first-time buyers, as well as the clear affordability benefits to Shared Ownership: the national average monthly payment for a 25% Shared Ownership share is £691, 36% less than the average traditional mortgage payment of £1,080.
Roy Hind, Connells Group’s affordable housing director, said: “Our data shows the demand to step onto the property ladder is clearly there, but as we well know, affordability has become a major blocker for first-time buyers wanting to purchase their first home. That’s why Shared Ownership is a vital solution for aspiring homeowners in today’s market, and one which needs to be prioritised across the housing sector if we really want to help buyers overcome cost barriers and access homeownership.”
The regional picture shows the best opportunities for Shared Ownership are in the North East, where all five of the most affordable Local Authorities are located. Meanwhile, the five least affordable Local Authorities are in London. These are based on the affordability ratio of average monthly salary vs average monthly payment.
In Hartlepool, the leading Local Authority for affordability, Shared Ownership owners would spend on average 16% of their salary on their monthly payment, compared with 74% in Kensington & Chelsea, the least affordable Local Authority.
Roy continued: “While this data is really encouraging, the supply of new homes remains a significant challenge, with recent NHBC data showing new home starts are 17% below the ten-year average. Shared Ownership is a vital solution to the affordability gap, and therefore, to truly unlock homeownership for more people, we need to explore innovative ways to boost housing supply and ensure these much-needed options remain available.”
