The halving of mortgage repayments for first-time buyers during the past three years and the exemption from stamp duty has led to a year-on-year rise of 28% in people getting on the property ladder, research has shown.
Mortgage provider Halifax said that eight out of ten first-time buyer mortgages were approved during the first six months of 2010 - when a total of 94,600 people purchased their first home.
The high street lender said that typical first-time home buyers now spend just 28% of their pay on monthly mortgage repayments, down from a peak of 50% in June 2007.
According to Halifax, the reason behind this fall is the record low interest rates, the drop in house prices and the stamp duty exemption on 94% of homes bought by first-time buyers.
The research found that first-time buyers are becoming more confident about mortgage availability, with just 3% saying a lack of suitable mortgages had prevented them from buying a home.
However, only 35% of people hoping to buy their first home say they are able to take advantage of the improved conditions, with more than half saying buying a home is still out of their reach.
Despite the increase in the number of first-time buyers, it is still around half of the figures during the same period of 2007.
Copyright Press Association 2010
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