The average first-time buyer in Britain is now 34 and needs to scrape together a bigger deposit than ever before to get on the housing ladder.

Faced with higher property prices and growing debt, Brits are getting older and older before they buy a home.

According to the newly released Money.co.uk’s first-time buyers index, the average age of first-time home buyers has increased to 34, owed primarily to the widening gap between income and house prices.

The index looked at the average annual salary, budget, property price, difference between property price and budget, deposit needed, and price per square metre.

The research found that the average salary in the UK is £36,024 a year, and the average budget for a first-time property is £162,108.

One of the main problems facing first-time buyers is that there are significantly fewer high loan-to-value mortgage products currently available.

Banks have withdrawn hundreds of low-deposit mortgages over the past few months, while those who can raise the larger down payment required are being hit with higher interest rates at the moment.

Analysis by Hamptons International, undertaken on behalf of Telegraph Money, found that buyers are spending up to £2,484 a year more on their mortgage because of these changes.

The number of 5% mortgage products on the market has fallen sharply, and of those currently available, data from the Bank of England shows that the average rate has increase from 2.96% to 3.9% over the past 12 months.

Meanwhile, rates for 10% loans are up from 2.1% to 2.79%, reflecting the fact that rates on high LTV products have increased much faster than those charged to customers with large deposits.

“Ultimately, no lender wants to be holding a huge amount of these types of [high LTV] loans if prices fall,” said Chris Sykes of Private Finance.