That’s according to the latest First Time Buyer Index from Aldermore Bank, a survey of 1,000 prospective first-time buyers.

More than six in ten (62%) said that getting the keys to their first property felt like an impossible dream at the moment, while almost half said they had been turned down for a mortgage. Around a third (35%) had been rejected on one occasion, with a further 10% saying they had been rejected more than once.

According to the study, the most common reason for an unsuccessful mortgage application was that the would-be buyer was a self-employed or contract worker, which was the cause of a fifth (20%) of rejections. Almost a quarter (23%) of respondents to Aldermore’s study said these difficulties had caused them to give up on being self-employed in order to improve their borrowing chances.

Other common reasons for application rejections included the deposit size (18%), salary intake (16%) and a poor credit history (15%).

On the issue of credit scores, around a third (34%) of respondents said they were actively looking to improve their credit score in order to improve their chances of securing a mortgage. Steps taken include paying off debt, registering on the electoral roll and closing unused credit cards.

The survey results emphasise how disheartened first-time buyers feel about the homebuying process, with two-thirds saying they find the entire process confusing.

Jon Cooper, head of mortgage distribution at Aldermore, said that being turned down for a mortgage could be a “deflating experience” but emphasised that the growth in specialist lenders meant that being self-employed should not act as a barrier to home ownership to the degree it may have in the past.

He continued: “The current generation of first time buyers are now far more diverse, coming to the market with a wide range of financial backgrounds, but one constant is they all appear to find the process confusing and complicated, and the pandemic has only heightened this. It may feel daunting at times so we would recommend seeking advice from a mortgage broker that can give a whole of market view and provide options specific to a new buyers’ individual circumstances.”