Most aspiring first-time buyers 'positive' over property ladder chances

The biggest proportion of people surveyed, at 40.1%, described themselves as hopeful when asked about their ability to achieve their goal soon, while a further 16.9% said they were feeling confident - making a total of 57% who felt positive overall.

But the research, from conveyancing services provider My Home Move, also found more than a quarter (26.3%) of would-be first-time buyers felt unsure about their chances of getting on the property ladder.

A further one in 10 (10.1%) felt their hopes were unrealistic - while one in 16 (6.1%) said they felt "depressed" when asked about their prospects of owning their own home.

Some would-be property buyers are are also pinning their hopes on the "bank of mum and dad" to wholly fund their deposit.

Some 6.2% of people surveyed believed their parents would gift them enough money for a deposit, meaning they could apply for a mortgage without the need for further savings or support through a government scheme.

People surveyed in London were the most likely to be expecting to receive a gifted deposit that would be enough to secure them a mortgage, with 15.7% of people there believing this, compared with just 6.8% of aspiring home owners in Yorkshire and Humberside.

Nearly three quarters (72%) of aspiring first-time buyers said they were saving for their deposits themselves.

The survey of 1,000 aspiring first-time buyers also found that, when they were growing up, people tended to say they had expected to be aged around 25 to 30 when they achieved the milestone of owning their own property.

Recent figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) show the average first-time buyer taking out a mortgage in February was 30 years old.

Doug Crawford, chief executive of My Home Move, said: "Of those we surveyed, over a quarter expected to be home owners by the time they hit their mid-20s, but unfortunately the reality is very different."

He said the findings suggest there is a "missed generation" of would-be first-time buyers - aged in their 30s, 40s and beyond - who are still struggling to get on the property ladder.

Here are the percentages of would-be first-time buyers in regions across the UK who are hoping to be gifted a deposit without the need for additional savings, according to My Home Move:

:: London, 15.7%

:: East Midlands, 7.6%

:: East Anglia, 15.6%

:: North East, 9.4%

:: North West, 7.8%

:: South East, 10.2%

:: South West, 7.9%

:: Wales, 10%

:: West Midlands, 12%

:: Yorkshire and Humberside, 6.8%

:: Northern Ireland, 10.7%

:: Scotland, 8%