First-time buyers now need a £60,600 salary to get on the property ladder – that’s two average salaries! This shocking figure comes from a new report by property website Zoopla, which analysed average asking prices for first-time buyer homes across the UK.

Five years ago, you could snag your first home with a household income of £45,600 – meaning hopeful homeowners now need an extra £15,000 per year! This represents a massive 32.6% increase, driven by skyrocketing house prices.

And it’s not just a long-term problem either – compared to just one year ago, first-time buyers need an extra £2,400 in their pay packet to buy their first property. This increase is actually higher than both inflation and house price growth, highlighting the increasing difficulty for aspiring homeowners.

Where can first-time buyers find the cheapest homes? The report found that hopeful buyers in northern England and Scotland have it easiest, with an average household income of less than £40,000 needed to buy.

However, those dreaming of a London postcode face the toughest challenge. The average first-time buyer in the capital needs a staggering £103,000 income to buy a home. Ouch!

Izabella Lubowiecka, a senior property researcher at Zoopla, explains: “The challenges facing first-time buyers are not the same across the UK. Access to homeownership requires lower incomes in much of Wales, northern England and Scotland.”

But, she warns, “The greatest challenges are in southern England, especially London where first-time buyers are already buying cheaper homes than the average in an effort to try and improve affordability”.