UK homebuyers must save for 24 years to afford first property, says new study

A total of 28 per cent of non-homeowners under the age of 45 do not believe they will ever afford to buy

The study suggests first-time buyers' plight has worsened dramatically (Getty Images)

The average British homebuyer must save for 24 years for a deposit to buy their first property - up from just three years in 1997.

New research shows the average person saving 5 per cent of their disposable income each year could wait nearly a quarter century to get on the property ladder.

While this average period of saving is lower than before the financial crisis, it is far higher than the 1990s.

The Resolution Foundation thinktank used the Bank of England’s latest household finances survey to discover how big an issue rising house prices were for first-time buyers.

The study suggested Chancellor George Osborne’s various “Help to Buy” schemes have not helped “turn generation rent into generation buy”.

Resolution’s chief economist, Matt Whittaker, told the Guardian: “To the extent that these schemes have stoked demand and so propped up house prices in recent years, they have served to make homeownership even less attainable for many, while increasing the gains flowing to older homeowners who have been the main beneficiaries of the sustained housing boom.”

According to the research, 28 per cent of non-homeowners under the age of 45 do not believe they will ever afford to buy.

This percentage increases to 39 per cent when looking at the poorest fifth of the UK population.