First-time buyers will need seven-and a-half years to save enough for a deposit in order to climb the property ladder.

Research shows that the average first-time buyer will need to save seven-and-a half years to put aside enough money to buy a deposit in order to move up the property ladder.

And those still waiting estimate they’ll finally get the keys to their own home at age 37.

It took existing homeowners five years to purchase their first home, which was at 28 years old.

While 28 per cent of those who are waiting to get on the ladder also believe the only way they’ll be able to is through an inheritance – that they’re patiently hoping for.

Concerns grow about the current economic situation

The research was commissioned by first direct, which has given first time buyers the chance of winning one of two five per cent deposits (£26,000 each) by jumping to reach a ladder suspended in the sky.

Chris Pitt, CEO of the digital bank, said: “Getting on the property ladder is a distant dream for many today.

“The rise in house prices relative to incomes is well documented, as is the difficulty in saving for a deposit while at the same time paying rent.

“What this study shows is the time it takes to save and realise the dream of home ownership – it is a long time and getting longer.

“The state of the economy will only make this situation worse.”

jQuery(document).ready(function($) {

// These styles will only be applied if javascript is enabled
$(‘.gal_content’).css(‘display’, ‘block’);

// Initialize Advanced Galleriffic Gallery
var gallery = $(‘#thumbs_67640_3’).galleriffic({
delay: 0,
numThumbs: 0,
preloadAhead: 0,
enableTopPager: false,
enableBottomPager: false,
imageContainerSel: ‘#slideshow_67640_3’,
controlsContainerSel: ‘#controls_67640_3’,
captionContainerSel: ‘#caption_67640_3’,
loadingContainerSel: ‘#loading_67640_3’,
renderSSControls: true,
renderNavControls: false,
playLinkText: ”,
pauseLinkText: ”,
enableHistory: false,
autoStart: false,
enableKeyboardNavigation: true,
syncTransitions: false,
defaultTransitionDuration: 300,

onTransitionOut: function(slide, caption, isSync, callback) {
slide.fadeTo(this.getDefaultTransitionDuration(isSync), 0.0, callback);
caption.fadeTo(this.getDefaultTransitionDuration(isSync), 0.0);
},
onTransitionIn: function(slide, caption, isSync) {
var duration = this.getDefaultTransitionDuration(isSync);
slide.fadeTo(duration, 1.0);

// Position the caption at bottom of the image, and adjust its opacity
var slideImage = slides.find(‘img));
caption.fadeTo(duration, 1.0);

},
onPageTransitionOut: function(callback) {
//this.hide();
setTimeout(callback 100); // wait a while
},
onPageTransitionIn function() {
var prevPageLink = this.find(‘a.prev’).css({‘opacity’: ‘0.3’ , ‘display’ : ‘inline-block’, ‘cursor’ : ‘default’});
var nextPageLink = this.find(‘a.next’).css({‘opacity’: ‘0.3’ , ‘display’ : ‘inline-block’, ‘cursor’ : ‘default’});

// Show appropriate next/prev page links
if (this.displayedPage > 0)
prevPageLink.css({‘opacity’ : ‘1’ , ‘display’ : ‘inline-block’, ‘cursor’ : ‘pointer’});

var lastPage = this.getNumPages() – 1;
if (this.displayedPage < lastPage)
nextPageLink.css({'opacity' : '1' , 'display' : 'inline-block', 'cursor' : 'pointer'});

this.fadeTo('fast', 1.0);
}

});

/**************** Event handlers for custom next / prev page links **********************/

gallery.find('a.prev').click(function(e) {
gallery.previousPage();
e.preventDefault();
});

gallery.find('a.next').click(function(e) {
gallery.nextPage();
e.preventDefault();
});

});

Prospective buyers are concerned about the impact of rising living costs on their plans

56 percent of people who own a property are able to purchase their first home on their own.

However, 35% of respondents believe they cannot afford to buy a house by themselves in 2022.

Only 23 per cent of people who haven’t bought a house yet are not at all worried about not getting on the ladder.

This is a stark contrast to the 48 percent who had no worries prior to making their first home purchase.

Unsurprisingly, 86 per cent of prospective buyers are ‘somewhat concerned’ by how the cost-of-living crisis could affect their home-buying plans.

And 34 per cent of these would go so far as to describe themselves as ‘very concerned’, according to the OnePoll figures.

The research by first direct also revealed six in 10 (59 per cent) haven’t been able to put away as much in savings each month due to increased outgoings.

45 percent are worried about not being able pay their bills if they make a purchase.