The Edinburgh and Lothians Property Group, comprising Warners, Neilsons, Drummond Miller, the Lints Partnership and Leslie Deans & Co, say first time buyers are still disadvantaged in the search for mortgage finance.

"Many first time buyers are still finding it difficult to take their first step on the property ladder. Most require fairly sizeable deposits to put down on a new home and, if they do not have these in place, there are very limited options available to help them make a purchase," says Scott Brown of Warners.

“As many first time buyers are young people who have to rely on help from relatives to secure the funds for their first home, there should be some new initiatives introduced to help the situation.  Ideally, we would benefit from having a more simplified method for parents guaranteeing a mortgage for their children – as parents are more likely to be happy to stand as guarantors rather than to put down a hard cash sum for a deposit in the current climate. If there were also attractive rates for these sorts of schemes and, potentially, a definite exit period for the guarantors then it would help to make it more attractive for parents to help and therefore easier for buyers to get their first step on the ladder.”