First-time buyers are twice as likely to be able to find a mortgage in October than they were in April, according to Mortgage Broker Tools.

The firm’s latest affordability index shows that whereas in April the affordability gap stood at 24 per cent – meaning that nearly a quarter of cases could not meet the requested loan amount – in October this figure came down to 11 per cent.

For all types of buyers, the affordability gap came in at 16 per cent, as it has done consistently since August and for homemovers, from 18 per cent in September to 15 per cent and, for borrowers wanting to remortgage, from 13 per cent to 12 per cent within the same time frame.

The data also shows that in cases where lenders are not able to meet loan requirements, the gap between the offered funds and desired grew from £20,538 in September to £22,450 in October.

Mortgage Broker Tools chief executive Tanya Toumadj says: “The affordability gap shows brokers how likely it is that they will be able to source a lender that can provide the loan amount requested by their client. So, it’s good news for first-time buyers that this hit a record low in October and that it remains low for other customer segments.

“However, where brokers are unable to secure the loan requested by their client, the difference between the loan requested and loan offered is as high as it has been since we started analysing the data.

“This can give brokers a false impression if they only try one or two lenders and find that the loan amounts offered fall well short of their expectations, when really there are many lenders that could be able to meet the loan size requested.”