Yorkshire Building Society has told first time buyers not to be deterred from purchasing a property following the axing of the stamp duty holiday by the coalition government.

Chris Smith, Yorkshire’s Group Direct Mortgage Manager, said this and other short term measures to stimulate the housing market, such as the NewBuy scheme, did not necessarily address the difficulties facing many first time buyers.

He said: “The society has a good understanding of the pressures facing first time buyers and we have looked at ways to ease the process and reduce upfront costs