Doncaster named one of best cities in UK for first time buyers as demand rockets

Across Britain's 50 largest cities, demand among first-time buyers has risen by 16 per cent since 2015, Rightmove said.

This was at the expense of coastal towns, where the number of people looking to get on the property ladder flatlined thanks to soaring prices and poor connections.

Rightmove's analysis compared demand from first-time buyers between January to May 2025 against the same period in 2015.

Dundee took the top spot for first-time buyer growth while Edinburgh saw the second largest rise in demand in the period, climbing 91 per cent.

Doncaster came in third place, with a 74 per cent increase in demand from first-time purchasers.

Liverpool and Plymouth took fourth and fifth place, with demand from first-time buyers rising over 70 per cent in both cities.

Glasgow, Preston, Winchester, Newcastle upon Tyne and Newport also performed strongly.

Only London failed to follow the city trend. Overall first-time buyer demand in London fell 7 per cent versus ten years ago, with higher asking prices a likely contributor., Rightmove said.

While most cities proved popular, on average, the number of future first-time buyers looking to move to popular coastal areas was 'completely flat' compared with ten years ago.

For many first-time buyers, proximity to work and public transport is key, as is affordability.

Colleen Babcock, Rightmove’s property expert, said: 'We’ve seen a number of changes to the property market over the last ten years.

'Perhaps most notably is during the pandemic, when many people temporarily left cities and looked to the coast or countryside.'

She added: 'Comparing where we are now versus a decade ago, it looks like there’s even more appeal from potential first-time buyers to live in cities, though the data does show that it can vary quite widely from city to city, and it will also depend how first-time buyer friendly a particular location is in terms of the type of homes that are available for sale.

'Coastal areas haven’t seen the same level of growth as cities from this type of buyer, and again it may be partly due to the availability of suitable homes in these areas for first-time buyers as well as affordability.'