More than four out of ten aspiring first-time buyers delayed their plans to get onto the property ladder in 2020, research by Santander suggests.

The lender found that 44% of first-time buyers put off their purchase during the pandemic.

However, 63% of would-be buyers say that home ownership is even more important to them now than it was before Covid. 

The proportion of first-time buyers who say raising a deposit is the biggest barrier has risen from 30% in 2019 to 52% in 2021.

Other challenges to buying include falling incomes, pressures on the Bank of Mum and Dad and house price rises across the country. 

The research by Santander concludes that the pandemic has exacerbated the gulf between struggling first-time buyers and those already on the property ladder.  

Despite Bank of England reports that the pandemic has enabled many households to accumulate more savings, only 17% of would-be first-time buyers said lockdown enabled them to save more money for a deposit, compared to 31% of all buyer types. 

Meanwhile younger buyers have also been harder hit by furlough, unemployment and reduced income, on top of the high cost of renting.

Nearly half of first-time buyers said they delayed their purchase due to concerns about their personal finance and 54% expect less support to be available from family after the pandemic.

ONS figures show that redundancies among the over-50s almost tripled over the last 12 months putting pressure on the Bank of Mum and Dad, which typically provides an average of £18,000 in support to first-time buyers.

Meanwhile, Santander’s analysis found that while the stamp duty holiday has boosted sales, only 22% of first-time buyers were encouraged by the holiday, compared to 46% of second home buyers and 44% of buy-to-let borrowers.

Almost half of first-time buyers say the pandemic has made inner-city living less desirable while rural and coastal living has increased in popularity among all buyer types.

However, Santander says this could result in regional house prices escalating out of reach for first-time buyers as growth in the North West and of England and in Wales has been twice as high as in London at 11% and 10.5% respectively compared to 5.7% in the capital during 2020.

Already 33% of first-time buyers say that finding an affordable property in their preferred area is a barrier to ownership, which is three times as high as the 11% who cited this as a barrier in 2019.

Furthermore, 13% of first-time buyers said they had delayed plans to move home while there was uncertainty on what their future remote working policy might be. 

Santander chief customer officer for homes Tracie Pearce says: “The impact of the pandemic on the housing market has been significant with many people reassessing what they want from their homes and making the most of a booming market and government support with stamp duty. 

“However, many younger people looking to take their first step on the property ladder have seen their earnings and job prospects hit hard, impacting their dreams of homeownership.

“Our report highlights that it is now really important that industry and government reflect on the last year and work together to make defining changes to support a new generation of first-time buyers.”