The price gap between a typical first-time buyer home and a middle-market second-stepper home is the highest it’s ever been, says Rightmove.
Widest price gap ever
In March, the average asking price for a 0-2 bedroom home, a typical first-time buyer property, was £226,955.
The trade up to a middle-market, typical 3-4 bedroom second-stepper home would be a 52% jump to £345,857, the widest this gap has ever been.
In cash terms, this is a £118,902 step up from a typical first home to a second property – this gap has only been larger in cash terms on two occasions, in May and June 2025.
If aiming to have a 20% deposit, this jump up would mean that a first-time buyer needs to go from having a £45,391 deposit, to having a £69,171 deposit when looking to trade up.
This means they must have built an additional £23,780 in equity, through overpaying on their mortgage, saving up further, or the value of their current property increasing.
This is in addition to being approved to borrow a larger amount from a mortgage lender too.
South East buyers hardest hit
The gap between a 0-2 bedroom starter home and a 3-4 bedroom mid-market home is different depending on which area of Great Britain you live in.
Buyers in the South East are hardest hit on average when trying to trade up for some extra space.
The average asking price for a first-time buyer type of home in the South East is currently £286,748. A second-stepper home is £460,781 – an increase of 61%.
London is second in the list, with a gap of 60% between a £491,661 first-time buyer home, and a £788,528 second-stepper home.
By contrast, trading up from a starter home is most achievable in Yorkshire & The Humber. The price of a second-stepper home in Yorkshire is £251,885, a 38% increase on the price of a first-time buyer home which is £182,029.
Wales is the second most affordable area to trade up in Great Britain, with a 40% gap between a typical first and second home.
| Region | Average asking price for a first-time buyer home (0-2 bedrooms) | Average asking price for a second-stepper home (3-4 bedrooms) | Price gap in % terms |
| East Midlands | £193,250 | £281,520 | 46% |
| East of England | £269,079 | £410,949 | 53% |
| London | £491,661 | £788,528 | 60% |
| North East | £133,713 | £200,787 | 50% |
| North West | £181,290 | £274,397 | 51% |
| Scotland | £146,567 | £230,056 | 57% |
| South East | £286,748 | £460,781 | 61% |
| South West | £247,531 | £378,014 | 53% |
| Great Britain | £226,955 | £345,857 | 52% |
| Wales | £183,640 | £257,520 | 40% |
| West Midlands | £193,401 | £290,575 | 50% |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | £182,029 | £251,885 | 38% |
Flats v Houses
The lagging price growth of flats, which make up a much larger proportion of typical starter homes, is a big contributor to the growing cost of trading up from a smaller to a larger home.
The price gap between an average flat, and an average house of any size is currently 26%. It’s only been larger once – at 27% in September 2025.
The current average asking price of a flat is £301,338, versus £379,526 on average for a house.
Over the last ten years, the average price of a flat has only increased by 8%, compared with a 34% increase for houses.
In February 2020, prior to the first Covid lockdown, the price gap in cash terms between an average flat and an average house was £24,010.
In February 2026, that had increased to £78,198.
Matt Smith, Rightmove’s mortgage expert says: “Inevitably trading up means borrowing more.
“Home movers usually take advantage of having built equity since the purchase of their first home to fund a larger deposit, meaning they have access to cheaper rates.
“If equity is reduced, this means home movers are likely to need to look at alternative strategies, either through reducing their mortgage balance by overpaying, or boosting their deposit through savings.
“They can look at taking more incremental steps up the housing ladder, or scout out alternative, cheaper locations.
“If buyers are facing the prospect of moving up the ladder at higher Loan-To-Values, lenders do have options to support this – powered up by recent changes to affordability rules by the regulators.”
