Six areas in Essex have made a list where first time buyers face stumping up more than six times their typical annual salary to get on the property ladder. 

The figures were compiled by Nationwide Building Society, which said a 20 per cent deposit on a home now equates to 110 per cent of the pre-tax income of a typical full-time employee.

This is also a record high and up from 102 per cent a year ago.

As house prices have surged, the average first-time buyer house price-to-gross earnings ratio in the third quarter of this year was 5.5, surpassing a previous high of 5.4 in 2007.

And in six places in Essex it was much higher with some first time buyers forking out 7.2 times their salary to buy a property. 

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Essex locations where the average first buyer spends 6.5 times annual earnings: 

  • Braintree
  • Colchester
  • Maldon
  • Tendring
  • Uttlesford

7.2 times annual earnings: 

  • Southend

Andrew Harvey, senior economist at Nationwide, said: “In the third quarter of this year, the UK first-time buyer house price-to-earnings ratio stood at 5.5, above the previous high of 5.4 in 2007, and well above the long-run average of 3.8.

“While there continues to be a significant gap between the least affordable and most affordable regions across the UK, this has remained broadly stable over the last year.

“London continues to have the highest house price to earnings ratio at 9.0, although this is still below its record high of 10.2 in 2016.

“Scotland continues to have the lowest house price to earnings ratio in the country at 3.4, closely followed by the North (of England) region at 3.5.”

Many first-time buyers are relying on financial support from family members to help them make the move.

Mr Harvey added: “In 2019/20, around a third of first-time buyers had some help raising a deposit, either in the form of a gift or loan from family or a friend or through inheritance – up from 27 per cent 25 years ago.”