Camden is one of the least affordable places in the UK for first time buyers according to a report.

The average first time buyer property price in the borough is £556,670, 9.9 times higher than the gross average income for people living in the area, Halifax found.

In London the average first time buyer home cost £384,617 in the first half of 2016 with an average deposit of £95,693 or 25 per cent of the property’s value.

A report from the English Housing Survey published last week found an increase in age for people buying their first home from 30 to 33 over the past 20 years.

The Housing Survey also noted a significant increase in the number of first time buyer households that were couples from 63 pc in 1994/95 and 62 pc in 2004/05 to 80 pc in 2014/15.

It said this was due to affordability issues and “an increasing need for two incomes to be able to buy”.

Stuart Shiers, director at Hotblack Desiato, said: “There are still plenty of first time buyers out there but what’s changed is the profile.

“Buying a property anywhere has become fairly elitist. It may be cheap to borrow but you need a huge sum. You’ve got to have a lot of money behind you to be able to buy just a one-bedroom flat.

“Instead of being 25 to 30 and looking for a 60 or 70 per cent mortgage first time buyers are now older with greater access to funds, whether that’s from family, working in the City or an inheritance.

“They could be in their mid to late 30s or even 40, which means they’ve been renting for a long time by the time they buy.”

Sian Berry said: “Rocketing house prices affect everyone and, as a someone stuck in private rented flat myself, I know how far away owning a home in Camden seems to me.

“In City Hall I am pushing for more rights for private tenants and more affordable homes of all kinds to be put into the Mayor’s spending plans and new planning rules. We also want to hear evidence from anyone affected by high rents and bad landlords in our new Big Renters Survey.”