The Deposit Trap Costing First-Time Buyers £6,700 Annually Explained

First-time buyers consistently misunderstand the non-linear relationship between deposit size and mortgage rates, leading to poor timing decisions that cost thousands unnecessarily. Our deposit optimiser reveals that increasing your deposit from 5 percent to 10 percent saves £127 monthly on a £300,000 mortgage, but jumping from 10 percent to 15 percent only saves an additional £43 monthly. Many buyers delay purchases for 18 months to reach 15 percent when buying 12 months earlier at 10 percent would save £6,700 after accounting for rent paid and house price inflation.