The amount of time it takes a first-time buyer to save for a mortgage deposit has slowed over the past year, but many still face waiting up to a decade, Hamptons International claims.

The agency’s latest Time to Save Index takes the average UK wage and works out how much and how long it would take couples and singletons to save for a mortgage after covering their rent, food, transport and bills.

It found that a single person who started saving in the first quarter of 2018 won’t get on the property ladder until ten and a half years later in the autumn of 2028.

Meanwhile, a couple could do it faster, reaching their goal in five years by the spring of 2023.

The amount of time is slightly down on research from last year that showed it would take 11 years for a single person and 10 years and six months for a couple who started saving in the first quarter of 2017. Hamptons International said this reflects slower house price growth and a rise in incomes.

This is, however, based on savings for a 15% deposit and only putting spare money in the average cash ISA paying 0.66%, and there are plenty of alternatives that pay higher interest.

In contrast, saving for a 5% deposit rather than 15% would take just three years and nine months for a single first-time and one year and nine months for couples.

There are of course regional differences based on local salaries and house prices.

It would take 17 years for a single person to save enough for a 15% deposit in London but just six years and three months in the north-east.

A couple in the north-east could have a 15% deposit together within two years and three months, according to the research.

Couples with a 5% deposit would face a five years and nine month wait in London, but it would take just a year or more in most other parts of the UK to have the required funds, the research suggests.

Aneisha Beveridge, analyst for Hamptons International, said: “Saving a deposit is still the biggest barrier to buying a first home.

“It takes a single person more than a decade to save up in the current climate. But the additional support from Help to Buy brings down the time it takes to raise a deposit by over six years for a single first-time buyer.

“Slower house price growth in the capital has meant that it’s now six months quicker for a couple, who share household spending, to save up for a 15% deposit in London. But it still takes a couple in London eight years to save up, twice as long as someone buying a home in the North.”