A single first-time buyer faces a 13-year wait to build a big enough deposit for a home, while someone in London could need to save for 46 years, according to a report by estate agents Hamptons International. Buying with someone else as a couple typically shaves around 10 years off that time – making the wait three and a half years across England and Wales against 13 and a half.

The report found that Londoners can shave decades off the length of time it takes to buy a home by buying together.

Couples in the capital face an eight-year wait to save enough for a deposit, compared with single people who face a wait of around 45 years and nine months, it found.

Hamptons also found that home owners in the North-east, where average property prices are cheaper, tend to have the shortest wait to build a deposit, at two years for couples and eight years nine months for single people.

The report assumed someone would need to raise a 15 per cent deposit; that aspiring buyers were working full-time, and saving 22 per cent of their income; and that wages and house prices will rise in line with forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility.