A new survey conducted by a credit referencing agency, has shown that confidence is returning to the first time buyer market, as a growing number are slowly starting to make offers on houses and apply for new home owner loans.

The survey found that around 70% of those first time buyers who were interviewed felt more confident about entering the property market, due to the currently lower house prices along with the increased availability of cheap loan and mortgage products from banks and building societies.

Despite this increase in confidence, more than two thirds of first time buyers claimed that they still found it difficult to be accepted for the loan they required.

Many potential first time buyers are still unable to get onto the property ladder due to a lack of deposit and another 30% said that they were rejected for a home owner loan due to an adverse credit history, through defaults and arrears on previous loans. 17% said they were rejected for not having any credit history at all.

Neil Munroe, external affairs director at the firm, commented on the figures: “Clearly the challenging financial conditions are still making it hard for first time buyers to get on the property ladder. But what our latest research, conducted in early October, shows is that there is a new level of confidence that probably hasn’t existed for the last 12 months or so.”