Nearly half of people asked by the Building Societies Association – 42 per cent – say the government’s mortgage guarantee scheme has made them feel more positive about the housing market.

For first-time buyers, this number jumps to 59 per cent of the over 2,000 people polled by the association.

Added to this, 40 per cent of people feel more upbeat about the market thanks to the stamp duty holiday extension, and 33 per cent feel the same way due to the extension of the furlough scheme.

Overall, 37 per cent of people believe that now is a good time to buy a property, which compares favourably to the 27 per cent of people who replied in the same manner last December.

The BSA says that this is the highest positive sentiment level seen in its property tracker data series since March 2015.

On the negative side of things, job security is perceived as being the biggest obstacle to home ownership.

This month, 59 per cent of those asked named it as the main ownership barrier, down from 65 per cent in December.

BSA head of mortgage and housing policy Paul Broadhead says: “It’s great to see public confidence in the housing market returning. The vaccination rollout and the publication of the government roadmap for easing Covid-19 restrictions are likely to have impacted this, but it’s also clear that some measures announced in the Budget, including the government-backed mortgage guarantee for those with small deposits and the stamp duty holiday extension, have been significant contributors to the growing optimism.

“The extension to the furlough scheme has also stimulated confidence overall. However, we should be mindful that the full impact the Covid-19 pandemic will have on the economy is still unclear and there’s strong evidence that the effect on household finances varies considerably, with those on lower incomes most negatively impacted.”