Despite initiatives like the Help to Buy scheme, first-time buyers in the country are still having to save for over a decade in order to work up enough of a deposit to purchase their first home, according to research from charity Shelter.

Childless couples in their twenties, on average, will need to save up for over six and a half years, according to the research, after taking into account the state of the housing market, the rising house prices, little to no earnings-growth and the high cost of living, in order to raise a 20 per cent deposit, 20 per cent being the typical entry level amount onto the property ladder.

When the same theoretical couple are located closer to London and the south east, the time needed to build that same deposit increases. This is despite the fact London and the south east generally has higher wages, because the cost of living and rent also climb.

In the London area, a couple with a joint income of £53,384 would take thirteen and a half years to build up a 20% deposit for a suitable home. The same couple in Brighton, Maidenhead, Oxfordshire, Surrey and Devon would also take over a decade to save up sufficiently.

In more than 70 per cent of authorities, it would take a small family with one child and one parent working part-time, 12 years would be needed to build that same deposit.

The research was carried out by Liverpool Economics, and took into account average wages, rent and house prices, and adjusted for future changes.

Shelter’s chief executive, Campbell Robb, spoke about the research. He said “Homeownership used to be within most people’s reach, but the rising shortage of affordable homes has pushed house prices up so high that for millions of young people it’s now just a fantasy, however how hard they work or save.

“Parents are right to be worried. The reality is that unless we get a grip on the housing shortage soon, children today could spend decades paying out dead money in expensive rents, or living at home well into adulthood with little hope of planning for their own families.”