First time buyers now have to come up with a mortgage deposit of 13 per cent of the property value which equates to £21,055 – more than the average salary.

The average house price for first time buyers is £162,000, with mortgage lenders typically asking for 13 per cent as a deposit; the average age of a person taking their first step onto the property ladder is 28, and the average salary for a 28 year old is £20,113 a year.

From today, Halifax – the UK’s biggest mortgage lender – will refuse home loans to people who need to borrow more than 60 per cent of the property’s value, so, unless first time buyers have generous parents, it is unlikely the property ladder will even be in sight for them, and getting a foot on it will seem like an impossibility.

Even though interest rates have fallen three times since last December and have not been raised since July 2007, lenders are still making it difficult to get a mortgage, especially a first time buyer mortgage, and are offering their best rates to buyers who have at least a 25 per cent deposit.