What is the average house deposit in the UK?
In 2024-25 the average (mean) deposit paid by a first-time buyer was £78,131, and the median was £36,500, according to the English Housing Survey. The two figures differ so widely because a small number of very large deposits pull the mean upward, so the median is the better guide to what a typical buyer puts down. That is a separate question from the deposit a lender requires, which is a percentage of the price of the property you are buying.
What buyers actually pay
| Measure | First-time buyer deposit, 2024-25 | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Mean (average) | £78,131 | The average of all deposit amounts. Pulled upward by large deposits and high-value areas |
| Median | £36,500 | The midpoint. Closer to the experience of a typical buyer |
English Housing Survey 2024-25, headline findings on demographics and household resilience. The survey covers England, not the whole UK.
What a deposit costs at each loan-to-value
That is what people paid. The separate question is what a lender will require, which is a percentage of the purchase price. Against the UK average house price of £272,611 (July 2026, HM Land Registry), the deposit at each common loan-to-value band works out as below.
| Deposit | Loan to value | Deposit on the UK average price |
|---|---|---|
| 5% | 95% | £13,631 |
| 10% | 90% | £27,261 |
| 15% | 85% | £40,892 |
| 20% | 80% | £54,522 |
| 25% | 75% | £68,153 |
Arithmetic on the UK average house price, not a survey of deposits paid. Your own figure depends on the price of the property you buy, and prices vary widely by region. This is not a quote or an offer.
Methodology and limits
Two different measures appear on this page and they are deliberately kept apart. The survey figures describe deposits first-time buyers actually paid in England in 2024-25. The loan-to-value table is simple arithmetic on the current UK average house price and describes what a lender would require on an average-priced home today. Combining the two would produce a number that means nothing, so we do not. The survey figures are published annually and lag the current market; the price feed is refreshed from HM Land Registry. Both carry their own date above.
Common questions
What is the average deposit for a first-time buyer?
In 2024-25 the average (mean) first-time buyer deposit was £78,131, and the median was £36,500. Both figures are from the English Housing Survey, so they describe England rather than the whole UK. The gap between the two is the important part: a relatively small number of very large deposits pulls the mean far above what a typical buyer actually puts down.
Should I look at the mean or the median?
For a sense of what a typical buyer does, the median is the more useful of the two. The mean is dragged upward by high-value purchases and by buyers with substantial family support, so it describes the average of the amounts rather than the experience of the average buyer.
Do I need a 20% deposit?
No. Most first-time buyers put down less than that. According to the English Housing Survey, around three in five recent first-time buyers paid a deposit of under 20% of the purchase price. Lending at 95% loan-to-value exists, though the rate is usually higher than at lower loan-to-values.
Why does the deposit you need differ from the deposit people pay?
They answer different questions. The deposit you need is set by the lender as a percentage of the price of the specific property you are buying. The deposit people pay is what buyers actually chose or were able to put down, which is shaped by savings, equity, family help and local prices. This page reports both, separately.
Does a bigger deposit get a better rate?
Usually yes, and it tends to move in steps rather than smoothly. Lenders price in loan-to-value bands, so crossing from just above a threshold to just below it, for example from 91% to 90%, can matter more than the extra few hundred pounds saved suggests.
Related: house prices and affordability and family help with a deposit.
Founder, MortgageExplained
Adam spent nearly a decade as a mortgage adviser at Just Mortgages, with further experience in commercial finance. He is CeMAP and CF qualified. He built MortgageExplained to do one thing well: explain mortgages in plain English, then introduce you to a regulated broker when you are ready. Every page on the site is written by Adam.
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