The number of first time buyers has doubled over the past year, with 2021 volumes up 98% on 2020, according to data from Barclays Mortgages’ First Time Buyer Index.

The Index combines Barclays’ own data with consumer research, polling over 2,000 potential or existing first time buyers to build a picture of the UK’s first time buyer market.

First time buyers who got on the property ladder in 2021 paid an average £281,900, which represented a drop from the average price paid in 2020 (£294,500) but a rise from pre-pandemic levels recorded in 2019 (£249,700), according to Barclays own data.

The data also shows that the average income of a first time buyer (buying solo) has risen significantly from £45,900 in 2019 to £50,300 in 2020, and to £50,800 in 2021.

The average total income of joint first time buyers has risen significantly from £63,800 in 2019 to £72,200 in 2020, and to £70,500 in 2021.

Additionally, over half of those surveyed (56%) said they wouldn’t have been able to get on the property ladder without family support.

Barclays’ data shows the average deposit paid by a solo first time buyer in 2021 was £61,100, a figure which fell significantly from £71,400 in 2020. For joint buyers, the average deposit was £61,000 in 2021 which decreased slightly from £63,800 in 2020. Survey respondents cited the struggle to save for a deposit as the single biggest obstacle to home ownership (35%).

According to the research, the average first time buyer starts saving at the age of 24, with Barclays proprietary data revealing that the average age at completion is 32, which has remained static for the past three years. Almost three quarters (73%) of those surveyed said that they wish they had started saving for their deposit even sooner.

Many first time buyers are reliant on other methods of financial support in order to raise the required deposit for their starter home. While personal savings remains the primary method of raising funds (62%), over half of those surveyed (56%) said they wouldn’t have been able to get on the property ladder without family support.

Claire Macphail, mortgage spokesperson at Barclays, said: “It’s encouraging to see that first time buyers have been able to get onto the property ladder in increasing numbers since the start of the pandemic. However, despite numbers nearly doubling across the last year, it’s worrying to hear that many still believe that they’ll never be able to afford their first property.”

“Our index points to the importance of first time buyers being supported by family so it’s essential for lenders to innovate to provide new ways in which first time buyers can get a head start. Barclays, for example, offers different mortgage options for first time buyers, including the Family Springboard mortgage, which allows family or friends to provide 10% of your property price as security, which they’ll then have returned with interest.”