Bristol Retains Crown as First-time Buyer LISA Hotspot, Third Year Running

Moneybox, the leading provider of Lifetime ISAs in the UK, has today announced the Top 10 LISA Hotspots for first-time buyers – with Bristol proving to be the most popular location for the third year in a row.

Moneybox Lifetime ISA house purchase withdrawal data reveals the locations that have grown in popularity among first-time buyers over the last year. Bristol has seen a 13% YOY increase in the number of first-time buyers choosing to buy in the vibrant city, paying on average £314,307 for their first home.

Northern cities complete the top five hotspots

Manchester climbs one spot to second place in the Moneybox data, with a 24% increase in LISA house purchases over the last year. Like Bristol, Manchester offers first-time buyers a vibrant city culture, with good job prospects and excellent transport and travel links. The average property price paid by LISA home buyers in Manchester was £256,305.

Sheffield jumped five places in the first-time buyer LISA Hotspots ranking, to third, with a 38% increase in property purchases with Moneybox LISA YOY. The average property price paid in the region was £215,285. Birmingham and Edinburgh – in fourth and fifth place – saw modest year-on-year increases in the number of LISA homebuyers last year, with a 2% and 6% increase respectively.

South East London has entered the top ten this year at 8th place, with a 41% increase in LISA-enabled first-time buyers choosing to buy in the region. Despite widely reported soaring property prices across London in recent years, the average property price paid by Moneybox LISA homebuyers in SE London was £367,524.

While Glasgow has dropped out of the top five to 6th place this year, the region has still seen a notable 10% increase in popularity YOY. Reading dropped three spots to 9th after a marginal 0.8% increase YOY and Belfast and Chelmsford’s position in the top 10 remains unchanged from last year, claiming 7th and 10th place with a 15% and 17% increase year-on-year respectively.

LISAs enables entire generation of first time homeowners

The Lifetime ISA was launched by the government, specifically to encourage younger people to get into the habit of saving – whether that’s towards their first home or for a more comfortable retirement.

If you’re aged between 18-39 you can choose between a Cash LISA or a S&S LISA and pay in up to £4,000 each tax year and get a 25% government bonus on all savings. That’s up to £1,000 for free each year you save!

Across the Top 10 LISA Hotspot regions, the average house purchase withdrawal amount last year was £12,641. Therefore, the typical Moneybox Lifetime ISA saver benefited from around £3,000 of upfront government bonus payments, as well as growth on that money (Moneybox offers the market-leading Cash LISA rate of 3.5%).

Since the LISA first launched in 2017, an entire generation of first-time homeowners have benefited, with more than 118,000 homes bought with a LISA across the length and breadth of the country.

Most recent government data available shows that there has been a fivefold increase in the number of first-time buyers saving into a LISA, from 154,000 in 2017/’18 to 553,000 in the 2020/’21 period3. While 2021- 2023 HMRC data is not yet available, Moneybox data shows how consumer demand is growing rapidly.

To date, Moneybox has helped more than 500k people on their journey to save for their first home, and in the first 3 months of this year alone, there has been a 21% YOY increase in Moneybox LISA accounts opened.

Moneybox data also reveals that people are now starting to save with the Lifetime ISA earlier in life; the age of customers opening a LISA is now 26, down from 29 in 2017/2018.

Cecilia Mourain, MD, Moneybox Home-buying, commented: “There can be no doubt just how invaluable the Lifetime ISA has been, encouraging young savers to plan for their future and build positive saving habits early in life, resulting in many thousands being able to buy their first home far sooner than would otherwise have been possible.

With rising costs of living continuing to put a strain on our day-to-day finances, if you do hope to own your own home someday, the opportunity to gain a 25% cash bonus from the Government to boost your hard-earned deposit savings should not be taken for granted.

Our recently successful LISA homebuyers across these Top 10 hotspots, each benefited from c.3k in government bonus payments towards their first home deposit. And you could gain as much as £33,000 in free cash from the government throughout your lifetime if you use the product as intended. While the Lifetime ISA may not be suitable for everyone who is eligible for it, we believe far more could be benefiting from the fantastic government bonus than are currently doing so.”