One in five aspiring homeowners expect to be in their forties when they finally get onto the housing ladder, according to research Nationwide Building Society.

For the survey, Censuswide spoke to more than 1,000 people who are looking to buy within the next five years and found that almost half felt the cost-of-living crisis had pushed their prospects of home ownership further away than ever.

Six in ten responded that they are postponing their homeownership plans by up to three years.

When asked about what the biggest barrier was to getting a first home, nearly a third (31%) said it was saving for a deposit and 44% said it was mortgage affordability.

The average amount respondents said they had to put towards the deposit was £9,533 – far short of the £22,400 needed for a 10 per cent deposit based on the £223,554 average first-time buyer house price, according to Nationwide’s House Price Index.

Eight in ten are concerned about affording mortgage payments and almost six in ten would buy in another part of the country to make costs more manageable.

Nationwide director of mortgages and financial wellbeing Rachael Sinclair says: “Getting that first home is as challenging as it ever has been.

“We need to solve the first-time buyer conundrum, which is why Nationwide has continually called for government to set up an independent review of the first-time buyer market.

“It’s why we’ll also be jointly launching a Housing White Paper with the Building Societies Association next week, which will outline the essential policy changes that are needed to tackle the homeownership crisis and support people into their first home.”