Buying your first home is the biggest financial commitment most people will ever make. It is complex, long-term, and often irreversible. Yet under the current regulatory framework, first-time buyers (FTBs) can proceed with a mortgage application with no regulated advice, no structured protection assessment and no professional guidance whatsoever. The FCA's own research tells us that consumers cannot reliably self-identify their advice needs. The FCA's vulnerability guidance (FG21/1) identifies first-time buyers as exhibiting multiple characteristics of vulnerability - limited financial experience, lower resilience, high emotional investment and significant information asymmetry. And with the removal of the mortgage advice trigger under PS25/11, the safety net has got smaller, not larger.

Our paper, ‘Mandatory Mortgage Advice for First-Time Buyers: A Proportionate Regulatory Evolution Under Consumer Duty’ sets out the full evidence-based argument for regulatory change.

In it, we cover:

• Why first-time buyers meet the FCA's own definition of a vulnerable consumer group
• How the removal of the advice trigger increases the risk of foreseeable harm
• The direct parallel with mandatory advice for defined benefit pension transfers
• Why execution-only is not a safe default for this cohort
• The case for mandatory advice as a proportionate, Consumer Duty-aligned intervention

The paper features perspectives from across the industry, including the Association for Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI), April Mortgages, OSB Group, Coventry Building Society and JLM Network, all making the same case: for first-time buyers, advice should not be optional.

Paradigm is one of the UK's leading mortgage, protection and compliance support services, supporting directly authorised firms across the country. We help adviser firms to deliver better outcomes for their clients - and we believe that starts with ensuring the regulatory framework protects the people who need it most. There are plenty of ways that we can help your business to thrive, we’d love to understand your needs and explain how we can assist.