Mortgage rate and house price rises are keeping first-time buyers out of the market.

New figures from the Council of Mortgage Lenders show the value of lending to first-timers in July was down 4 per cent on a month before, at £4.4 billion.

And, at 32,400, the number of first-time buyer loans was an even more worrying 12 per cent lower than a year ago.

That’s not to say there aren’t ways for cash-strapped first-timers to get a toehold in the market.

Of course, some are riskier than others.

According to the CML, the average first-timer is borrowing 3.39 times their income.

Many lenders will now go as far as four-times income, and some will lend five or six.

But borrowing at that level makes buyers hostages to fortune.

Job loss, ill health, further rate rises or falling property prices could quickly transform what looked like a minor financial gamble into a catastrophe.

A significant proportion of first-timers are going for interest-only loans in the belief that this will keep their costs at an affordable level.

But this is an equally dangerous and, ultimately, costly course of action.

There are less risky ways to make buying affordable, though.

A loan or mortgage guarantee from parents, pooling resources with a friend or taking advantage of one of the Government’s low-cost HomeBuy schemes can all help turn the dream of property ownership into reality.