Analysis from Halifax reveals a strong relationship between those areas of the UK with relatively low average house prices having the youngest first time buyers where those buying in London and the south east tend to be older.

As such, set against the national average age of 30, the youngest first-time buyers are aged 27 and buying properties in  Carlisle in Cumbria and Torfaen in south Wales. Meanwhile the oldest average first time buyers are aged 34, buying in areas including Slough in Berkshire and the London boroughs of Barnet and Ealing.

All 10 areas of the UK with the youngest first time buyers had house prices below the national average of £200,754. Meanwhile seven of these 10 areas had an average house price of between tree quarters and half the national average.

Chris Gowland, mortgages director at Halifax, said: “The majority of areas in the country where the average age of first-time buyers is two-to-three below the national average of 30 are outside southern England, mostly locations where house prices are typically lower in monetary terms and in relation to earnings, factor that help to reduce to reduce the size of the deposit needed.”

A decade ago the average first time buyer in the UK was aged 29, while in 1983 when Halifax records began they were aged 28. The average age of a first time buyer in London has meanwhile rise by three years since 1983 (29 to 32) and by four years in the south East (28 to 32).

According to Halifax government schemes and the increasing contribution from the Bank of Mum and Dad are likely to have prevented a sharper rise in the average age of first-time buyers. Indeed recent research from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) estimate that 62% of first-time buyers in 2014 became home-owners with the assistance from relatives or the Help to Buy Schemes.