First time buyers are an important part of the housing market. Without them, there are no buyers for starter homes. Without them, homeowners hoping to sell their home and upgrade to a larger property are without buyers. Without them, the property ladder slows, and at time becomes frozen. In the UK it is becoming harder for first time buyers to trade in their landlord keys for their own.

According to the Mortgage Advice Bureau, a government programme aimed in getting first time buyers onto the property ladder is helping them do so at a younger age. The data revealed that the Help to Buy 2 mortgage guarantee is allowing buyers to get into a home up to five years earlier with the average age at 31 while the national average age is 37. Over 70,000 homes have been bought through the Help to Buy programme which lowers the deposit required by the first time buyer.

The average home price for properties purchased with Help to Buy was £143,727 in December and the average salary of the home buyers was £27,957. In the normal housing market outside of Help to Buy, the average salary was £39,983.

Brian Murphy of the Mortgage Advice Bureau said, “By allowing borrowers on lower salaries to buy a home with a deposit as low as 5pc, it's no wonder the age of borrowers has fallen. If you go back a few years, people were having to stump up at least 10pc or 15pc, which can take young people years to save.

“If you're renting you're effectively paying someone else's mortgage, so it can be difficult to save meaningful amounts. For this reason, Help to Buy 2 could be particularly good for people who don't have parental help but are keen to get on the property ladder.”

The housing market is expected to increase from 3% to 5% over the year.

Mortgages and remortgages are being offered on the lending market at very low interest rates due to competition amoung lenders. Those seeking to buy a new home or remortgage could find the lowest interest rates offered in years.