Average first-time buyer deposit increased by £5,644 last year
The average first-time buyer in Scotland was required to put down £5,644 more last year as a deposit than if they had got on the property ladder in 2019, according to analysis.
In London, the typical firsttime buyer deposit ballooned by £20,000 to more than £130,000, the research from Halifax found.
Across the UK, the average amount put down by a first-time buyer in 2020 was £57,278, compared with £46,449 the year before, marking a 23 per cent increase, or £10,829.
Average deposits for firsttime buyers in London were up by £20,211 (18 per cent), from £110,145 to £130,357.
Other areas also saw big increases, with the average first-time buyer deposit growing by 25 per cent (£6,634) in Wales, from £26,029 to £32,663.
Despite many low-deposit mortgages being pulled from the market in 2020 amid the coronavirus crisis, first-time buyers still made up half (50 per cent) of home purchase loans last year, Halifax estimates, down from 51 per cent in 2019.
The bank said the overall number of first-time buyers in 2020 was down by more than 46,000 on 2019, with an estimated 304,657 first-time buyers in 2020.
This was the lowest number since 2015, when there were 298,080 first-time buyers.
Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales were the parts of the UK with the biggest decreases in first-time buyers last year, while London expe"despite
rienced the smallest fall, Halifax found.
According to Office for National Statistics figures, average UK house prices jumped to a record high of £250,000 in November and those in London topped £500,000 for the first time.
A temporary stamp duty holiday and pent-up demand after the market was put on hold in early 2020 have fuelled demand, with rising prices
making life harder for those trying to get on the property ladder.
Russell Galley, Halifax managing director, said: "While these figures confirm the almost inevitable fall in the overall number of firsttime buyers in 2020, with the entire housing market effectively shuttered during the first national lockdown, they also underline just how strong the bounceback was in the second half of the year.
the obvious challenges presented by soaring house prices, not least the need to raise an even bigger deposit, first-time buyers still accounted for half of all home purchases.
"However, with the economic impact of the pandemic likely to be felt most keenly by the young and those in lowerpaid jobs, the need to prioritise improved housing availability and affordability for all those looking to make that first step on to the property ladder becomes ever greater."
In Scotland the average first-time buyer deposit in 2019 was £30,101, compared with £35,745 in 2020.
The most affordable place in the UK for first-time buyers was Burnley, in Lancashire, where house prices cost an average 3.1 times an average income, followed by East and North Ayrshire on 3.2 times.