£29,000 cost of the very first step on ladder

First-time buyers are having to find average deposits of nearly £29,000 to get on to the property ladder, new research has found.

The typical first-time buyer put down the equivalent of 21 per cent of the value of the home they were buying, according to HBOS.

The figure is nearly three times the typical deposit of 9,865 in 2000.

The huge deposits are due to a combination of house price rises during the past decade, as well as banks and building societies tightening their lending criteria.

But it would take a first-time buyer on an average salary of 25,000 18 months to raise the money they need if they saved every penny they earned after tax, while it would take them 15 years to amass the sum if they set aside 10 per cent of their take-home pay each month.

However, record low interest rates have helped reduce the proportion of their take-home pay first-time buyers have to spend on mortgage interest to its lowest level for 12 years, at 27 per cent - well down on the 50 per cent peak in 2007.