Experts warn the ‘death of the first-time buyer’ could have a devastating impact on the market.

The poll, by property information firm Rightmove, asked more than 22,000 people whether they planned to buy a property over the next 12 months.

Of those who planned to buy, just 22 per cent were first-time buyers. For a ‘healthy’ housing market, the figure should be 40 per cent. Only a year ago, it was 31 per cent.
Without them, the housing chain comes close to collapse because there is nobody to buy the properties on the bottom rung of the ladder.

Miles Shipside, of Rightmove, warned the findings were ‘a cause for concern’.

He said: ‘The number of prospective buyers at the bottom of the chain is half the normal level.

‘The question that sellers further up the chain will be asking themselves is, “Who will be at the bottom of my chain?”’

Over the past decade, the number of first-time buyers has collapsed as the house price boom destroyed many people’s chance of buying.

Last year, just 199,000 got on to the housing ladder. A decade earlier, there were nearly 600,000, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders. For most would-be buyers, the explanation is simple – they cannot afford the deposit needed to get the best mortgage deals. Others fear prices will slump.

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