Average monthly mortgage payments in the UK plummeted in January, despite house prices rising on average year-on-year.
This is according to the latest data from online property platform Rightmove, which found that the average monthly mortgage payment was £1,592 in January 2026.
This is a 7% decline from last year’s average monthly mortgage, despite house prices rising by 0.5% over the same period.
This is great news for first-time buyers, for whom the average monthly mortgage payment is now £975, down from £1,062 at this time last year. The average price of a typical first-time buyer home in January was £225,544.
At this price, a 20% deposit would equate to £45,109.
Average asking prices vary greatly by region, however, and in London, where the average asking price is £679,982, the average monthly mortgage payment has declined by £207 to £2,940.
Scotland had the lowest average monthly mortgage payments in January at £809 per month, with average asking prices in the region at £187,139.
The table below shows the average monthly mortgage payments across various UK regions for January 2026, along with the year-on-year change in mortgage payments.
| Area | Average Asking Price | Average Monthly Mortgage Payment | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Midlands | £280,598 | £1,214 | -£100 |
| East of England | £412,555 | £1,784 | -£149 |
| London | £679,782 | £2,940 | -£207 |
| North East | £197,264 | £853 | -£38 |
| North West | £266,463 | £1,152 | -£58 |
| Scotland | £187,139 | £809 | -£51 |
| South East | £462,319 | £2,000 | -£195 |
| South West | £369,713 | £1,599 | -£135 |
| Wales | £258,194 | £1,117 | -£109 |
| West Midlands | £291,422 | £1,260 | -£86 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | £248,821 | £1,076 | -£71 |
Rightmove said that according to its monthly confidence tracker, net confidence among buyers and sellers was higher in January 2026, reaching its highest level since September 2025.
“We saw some headline grabbing low mortgage rates being offered by lenders at the end of 2025 and into January, which saw average rates drop to their lowest level since before the mini-Budget,” said Rightmove mortgage expert Matt Smith.
“Since then, rates have stabilised and even ticked up marginally in places as the cost of funding mortgages has become more expensive, due to global and domestic economic events.”
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