Raising a deposit is seen as the biggest obstacle in buying a property for the first time in nine months, the Building Societies Association’s latest survey shows.

Its quarterly property tracker describes 59% of the over 2,000 UK adults asked citing this as the main barrier, up from 54% in December 2020 and 40% in the preceding June.

Previously, job insecurity was seen as preventing property purchases – in December, 65% of respondents gave this reply versus 45% in June – a figure the BSA says is nevertheless important to not downplay.

“Whilst this is a declining trend, it remains clear that there are many people for whom the pandemic continues to have a negative financial impact,” says BSA head of mortgage and housing policy Paul Broadhead.

And continuing with the impact of coronavirus on the housing market, the BSA’s data shows that people are still eager to move to the countryside.

In December, 48% of those asked – both homemovers and first-time buyers – stated that they wanted to move away from built-up areas. This has now increased to 62%.

Securing a lower mortgage payment is also on the agenda for many people – 51% of those asked, compared to 37% in December.

Overall, 50% of people expect house prices to continue growing over the next 12 months and 11% predict a fall.

A year ago, this was reversed – 45% of those asked thought house prices would fall and 16% saw a house price rise on the cards.

Broadhead adds: “Whilst the Nationwide Building Society House Price Index reports house price growth of over 11% in the last 12 months, and our research showing 50% of the public think further price rises are likely in the coming 12 months, it’s not surprising that raising a deposit has returned as the biggest challenge for those wanting to get on the property ladder.

“It’s therefore good to see that in addition to a number of societies supporting the government’s First Homes initiative, many have also re-introduced low deposit mortgages as part of their standard mortgage range.”