The Week Unzipped: Demand for big deposits 'pushes property out of reach'

Its survey reported that among first-time buyers four out of ten have a deposit of more than 40 per cent, while nearly one in three had less than 10 per cent.

Nigel Lewis, property analyst at FindaProperty.com, said: "It seems Britain's next generation of first-time buyers is splitting in two. On the one hand are relatively comfortable urbanites, university graduates and middle-class offspring. On the other hand are those less fortunate who have little realistic chance of saving up the thirty or forty thousand pounds needed.

"The rise of the deposit gap between these two groups means that buying your own home could become a luxury for the middle classes only."

Interest rates held

THE Bank of England has held interest rates at 0.5 per cent for the 21st consecutive month. The Monetary Policy Committee also voted to maintain quantitative easing measures at 200 billion.

Iceland to repay UK

ICELAND has agreed to repay the British and Dutch governments the 4 billion they spent reimbursing savers affected by the collapse of Icesave. The Netherlands and UK compensated 400,000 account holders in their countries when Iceland's three main banks collapsed within days of each other in October 2008.

This is the second deal brought to the table after a previous plan was voted down in an Icelandic referendum last year.

Under the terms of the deal Iceland will pay interest on its outstanding debt of 3 per cent to the Dutch and 3.3 per cent to the UK.

The terms of the agreement must be approved by Iceland's parliament and president.

Iceland will begin repayments in 2016 and will complete the plan by 2046.

Boiler room alert

THE Financial Services Authority has warned nearly 50,000 people they could be targeted by fraudsters after their names were discovered on a hit-list.

The list mainly featured people in Scotland, London and the south-east of England.

The so-called boiler room scam involves conning investors into buying worthless or non-existent shares.

The regulator is writing to everyone whose details appear on the list, explaining how to protect themselves and what they should do if they think they may already be a victim.