According to figures from Stroud & Swindon Building Society, first-time buyers saved for an average of four years in 2005 in order to afford the deposit on their first house, but in 2006 this period had risen to four years and 11 months.

David Greenleaf, spokesman for Stroud & Swindon, said: “House prices have been rising at a rate higher than income for a while now, and so first-time buyers have to save for longer to make their first purchase.”

Further research by the building society has shown that 30% of all homeowners thought that finances were a restraint on the age at which they could purchase their first house.

Greenleaf said: “This reflects the pressure people now feel they are under in the current housing market. Such pressure did not exist for earlier generations.”