Can Peterborough First-time Buyers Still Afford Their First Home?

The affordability figures may surprise you…

Ask anyone whether first-time buyers can still afford to buy their first home in Peterborough and you will often get the same answer: “Not these days”.

You can understand why. The typical first-time buyer home in Peterborough costs £193,222. For someone trying to save a 5% deposit (£9,660) while paying rent and everyday bills, that is an intimidating figure. But the price of a home does not tell you, on its own, what it costs to buy one. The question every first-time buyer faces each month is simpler: how much of our take home pay will the mortgage payment use?

Look at Peterborough through that lens and the history becomes more interesting. According to the Nationwide, a typical first-time buyer’s household mortgage payment takes 30.4% of their household income today. That is a sizeable commitment, yet it is also considerably less than first-time buyers faced at several points in the past.

1989 – When Peterborough homes were cheaper, but mortgages cost more

In 1989, a first-time buyer home in Peterborough cost £55,526. It is tempting to look at that price and conclude that buying must have been easy. Yet the average mortgage interest rate was 14.5%, and the mortgage took 59.9% of a Peterborough first-time buyer’s household income (the national figure was 47.2%).

Imagine nearly half the money coming into your household going straight back out on the mortgage. You still had to pay the other bills. A lower purchase price did not make the monthly budget comfortable.

The same issue appeared again in 2007. By then, Peterborough first-time buyers were spending 42.8% of household income on mortgage payments, compared with 44.2% nationally.

Those years matter because they challenge a familiar assumption. Older buyers may have paid less for their homes in pounds, but many committed a much larger share of their monthly income to the mortgage. A house price and an affordable mortgage payment are related, but they are not the same thing.

The 2023 affordability squeeze, and the easing that followed

None of this means more recent first-time buyers in Peterborough have had an easy time. When borrowing costs rose, the effect on monthly budgets was immediate. In 2023, mortgage payments for Peterborough first-time buyers reached 37.6% of household income, the highest figure in more than 15 years. The national figure was 37.4%.

That helps explain why some people delayed buying. A change in mortgage rates can turn a payment that feels manageable into one that leaves too little room for everything else.

Since that 2023 peak, the Peterborough figure in the Nationwide series stats has moved down: 35.1% in 2024, then 33.1% in 2025, and 30.4% in the latest 2026 figure. These are meaningful differences when you have to find the money every month. That means first-time buyers in Peterborough spend 49.1% less of their household income on mortgage payments than 1989, and 22.8% less than 2007. It does not mean every buyer can afford every home. It does mean the claim that a first home is uniquely unaffordable today is too sweeping.

The hurdle before the first mortgage payment is the problem

There is, of course, a question that mortgage payment figures cannot answer: where does the deposit come from?

That can be the hardest part of all. A household might be able to manage a mortgage payment, yet struggle to save a deposit while renting. Buyers also need to consider moving costs, legal fees and the money they should keep aside for unexpected expenses. Raising a deposit is a major barrier for some Peterborough first-time buyers, even when monthly mortgage payments are more manageable than at earlier peaks.

That is why I would never tell a Peterborough first-time buyer simply to look at these percentages and rush out to buy a property. Their own income, deposit, debts and other commitments will decide what is sensible for them.

Equally, I would not tell them that buying is impossible because an older relative once bought their Peterborough home in 1989 for £55,526. The purchase price is only one part of the calculation. Interest rates, wages, the size of the deposit and the mortgage term all affect what lands in the bank account each month.

What should you do now if you are thinking of buying your first Peterborough home in the next few years?

Start with the monthly figure, then work backwards. What payment could you comfortably make while still paying your bills, maintaining some savings and enjoying your life? How much deposit could you put down without using every penny you have? What would the payment look like if your circumstances changed?

Only then does it make sense to decide which Peterborough homes fit your budget. A lender’s maximum offer tells you how much you may be able to borrow. Your own monthly budget tells you how much you would feel comfortable borrowing.

For some Peterborough people, buying now will make sense. For others, saving longer will be the better decision. Neither choice can be made from a dramatic house price headline alone.

So, can Peterborough first-time buyers still afford to buy? Yes, some can, and the historical mortgage figures show that the monthly burden has been much heavier before. The deposit remains a real obstacle, and no national or local average can describe every household.

If you bought your first Peterborough home years ago, what did your first mortgage payment take from your monthly income? And if you are hoping to buy now, which is the bigger challenge: saving the deposit or covering the mortgage? Thank you for reading the article and do share your home moving stories.