Tenants are feeling more confident about their prospects for stepping on to the home ownership ladder.

According to Your Move and Reeds Rains, which issued their monthly first-time buyer barometer this morning, 15% of tenants in January said they planned to buy their first home within 12 months.

The proportion was markedly up from 6% in September last year – despite deposits having risen, to stand at an average first-time buyer’s deposit of £28,393.

Almost all (94%) of those questioned wanted to own their own home.

Adrian Gill, director in charge of residential, explained: “First-time buyers are moving from weariness to fearlessness.

“They are long-used to the housing market being a sellers’ arena and have come to expect daunting deposit costs and prohibitive property prices.

“But, ultimately, the desire among first-time buyers to own their own home is outweighing those considerations as they resolve to get on the property ladder sooner rather than later.

Moreover, there are still enough positive fundamentals in the property market to make taking the plunge a worthwhile investment.

“High LTV loans are plentiful, the average mortgage rate is still at rock-bottom levels – bolstered by the Bank of England’s refusal to contemplate raising rates anytime soon – and the economic outlook remains mostly sunny.”

The barometer also shows that the ending of part of the Help to Buy scheme this year is playing no part in the timing of first-time buyers’ purchase plans.

The mortgage guarantee part of the scheme is to end on December 31, having been designed to give lenders confidence to lend to buyers with small deposits.

However, 43% said the ending of the scheme made no difference and 30% said they had never heard of it.

Of those who said that the deadline had made some sort of difference to their purchasing plans, only 18% said it had made a moderate or significant difference.