The Intermediary – August 2026 - Flipbook - Page 98
L O C A L FO C U S
Reading
The conversation has
shifted from ‘How much
can I borrow?’ to ‘What
do I actually want to pay
each month?’ Buyers are
negotiating harder, taking
more time over decisions
and, particularly for
first-time buyers, getting
more help from family
with deposits”
at Healthy Financial Services. He
notes a market in which buyers have
become more discerning, rather than
disappearing altogether.
He explains: “Reading feels like
a much more sensible market now.
Buyers are still active, but they’re
doing their homework and are far less
willing to overpay.
“Get the price right and properties
are selling; get it wrong and buyers
have plenty of other options.”
That caution is also changing
affordability conversations, with
Ballard observing: “The conversation
has shied from ‘How much can
I borrow?’ to ‘What do I actually
want to pay each month?’ Buyers are
negotiating harder, taking more time
over decisions, and particularly for
first-time buyers, geing more help
from family with deposits.”
Local demographics
Advisers say the profile of those
entering the market has changed, with
Collins noting much of his business
coming from first-time buyers who
are now typically “in their late 20s or
early 30s, oen with parents helping
them out with their deposit.”
This demand sits alongside a
growing local population, with
around 907,000 residents across the
Reading postcode area in 2024, up
22.8% since 2002. The average age has
also increased by 2.9 years.
Kolb has also noticed a change in
how first-time buyers approach the
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The Intermediary | August 2026
search, noting they are “much more
focused on what and where they want
to buy and are much beer informed
than previously.”
However, affordability remains
the principal hurdle, with sustained
borrowing costs limiting purchasing
power and puing downward pressure
on prices.
Professionals and existing
homeowners also remain an
important part of demand across
Reading and the wider Thames Valley.
Ballard reports that a combination of
“first-time buyers and home movers
make up a big part of my business.”
Yet the higher incomes associated
with second steppers do not
necessarily remove the affordability
challenge. Ballard adds: “The biggest
change is that affordability is now
front of mind for almost everyone,
even clients on very good salaries.”
High street lenders continue to
account for much of the mortgage
business being wrien in Reading.
Kolb says he deals predominantly
with mainstream providers, with
Nationwide and Halifax among the
most prominent for first-time buyers
due to their “keen pricing and flexible
approach to affordability.”
Collins notes that Nationwide
has accounted for 17% of his firm’s
mortgage submissions so far this
year, followed by Barclays at 12%
and Halifax at 11%. He aributes
Nationwide’s position largely to its
Helping Hand mortgage, which he
says “works well for FTBs.”
He also praises Barclays’ “more
flexible approach to foreign nationals,”
adding: “Interest rates also play their
part, as Barclays seem to have shown
more appetite this year.”
However, lender selection
remains dependent on individual
circumstances rather than market
share alone.
As Ballard explains: “The best
headline rate isn’t always the best fit,
so a lot comes down to matching the
right lender to the individual client.”
Ongoing development
Development activity continues to
reshape parts of Reading, with the
average newly built property priced at
£512,000, compared with £459,000 for
an established home.
Calculated buyers
JACK BALLARD
founder and mortgage and protection
adviser at Healthy Financial Services
eading feels like a much more sensible market now. Buyers are
still active, but they’re doing their homework and are far less
willing to overpay. Get the price right and properties are
selling; get it wrong and buyers have plenty of other options.
It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster over the past few months. Confidence
was building nicely at the start of the year as rates looked to be heading
in the right direction, but the conflict in Iran and the subsequent jump in
mortgage rates knocked some of that optimism. Buyers haven’t
disappeared, but they’ve become more cautious and considered.
e conversation has shied from “How much can I borrow?” to “What
do I actually want to pay each month?” Buyers are negotiating harder,
taking more time over decisions, and particularly for first-time buyers,
getting more help from family with deposits.
e Elizabeth Line was a big win for Reading and made an already
well-connected town even more attractive to commuters. Station Hill
has transformed the area around the station, and with further
regeneration planned around the Minster Quarter and Broad Street Mall,
there is still plenty more to come.
Buy-to-let is certainly tougher than it used to be, but it’s far from
dead. Landlords are having to be smarter about what they buy and at
what price. Reading still has strong rental demand, but nowadays the
maths needs to work before anything else does.
R
