Most of UK is ‘first-time buyer blackspot’

Seven out of 11 UK regions are now "first-time buyer blackspots" as prospective house-buyers struggle to get onto the housing ladder, a new report has claimed. Research by the property website Rightmove found that just over a fifth of houses sold this year will be bought by first-time buyers - half the level considered healthy for the economy.

Rightmove found that the national average of prospective first-time purchasers dropped by almost a tenth between July 2009 and 2011, from 30.8 per cent to 23 per cent. This was despite an increase in mortgage products available to this group.

Scotland's first-time buyers represent just 16.8 per cent of its total while Wales, East Anglia and the East Midlands offer only slightly less gloomy prospects for those wishing to purchase their first home. Only the capital remains above pre-credit crunch levels: 41.2 per cent of those intending to buy in London were doing so for the first time, bucking the national trend.

Read a full report at the Daily Telegraph ·