First-time buyers in London using Gen H’s income booster proposition are buying their first homes at a median age of 29, compared with 35 for those without one, according to data from the fintech mortgage lender.
The six-year head start gives buyers valuable extra time to build equity rather than paying rent.
Gen H’s modelling shows that a typical first-time buyer who purchased six years ago would have accumulated £99,828 in total equity – £37,427 from repayments and £62,401 from price growth – while spending £101,697 on mortgage payments.
By contrast, an equivalent renter would have spent around £132,000 on rent and built no equity, leaving them £130,000 worse off over the same period.
Gen H introduced the UK’s first income booster product in 2020.
So far in 2025, around one in three (33%) of its applications have included at least one income booster – typically a friend or family member added to the mortgage to increase affordability.
The lender said that, on average, applicants without a booster would need to borrow around eight times their income to afford a property.
With a booster, this figure drops to 2.7 times income, allowing them to buy sooner without additional cash up front.
Pete Dockar, chief commercial officer at Gen H, said: “Owning a home brings so many intangible benefits that dramatically increase the quality of a person’s life – investment in a community, a sense of security and safety – but we can’t overlook the financial benefit it can bring, too.
“A £130,000 leg up is huge in your mid-thirties – but imagine how this advantage could grow over the decades.
“And there is no extra cost to adding an income booster – this is simply homeownership, sooner, and that benefit could literally last a lifetime.”
