Record deposits of first-timers

FIRST-TIME buyers must now find the biggest deposits ever to climb on the housing ladder, the Council of Mortgage Lenders said today.

They put down an average of £21,951 or 18 per cent of the value of their property to secure a home loan last November. Lenders have not asked for such a large advance percentage in the 35 years since CML records began. In the summer of 2007, when house price values were at their peak, the average first-time buyer in the UK had to find a £13,250 deposit.

A CML spokesman said: "Lenders face a shortage of funding and customers with the largest deposits are at the front of the line because they are seen as safest."

Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight, said: "The CML data indicates that housing market activity remains essentially dead in the water."