The average house deposit for first-time buyers across the UK now stands at a hefty £36,489, research by national housebuilder, St. Modwen Homes reveals.

London tops the list for the most expensive average deposit across all cities at £70,341.

However, it’s cheaper to buy a home in the UK’s second biggest city, Birmingham (£27,437), compared to Cardiff (£29,353), Manchester (£29,953) and Bristol (£39,743).

The average deposit required to buy a house in Sheffield is £24,398, while the lowest of all cities is Liverpool at £21,579.

The figures have been calculated based on a 10% deposit – the minimum amount most UK banks will accept from first-time buyers.

St. Modwen Homes sales and marketing director Jo Winston says: “We’ve heard from hundreds of people from across the nation who are desperate to buy their first home but feel trapped by the system.

“The cost-of-living crisis is squeezing people’s finances, meaning there’s less money than ever before left to go towards savings.

“On top of this, those who are able to put some money away each month are getting very little return on investment because of low savings rates.

“All of this combined means saving for a large deposit extremely difficult for many prospective homeowners.”