He is a twitchy, thirtysomething forced through lack of cash to live on Tesco value foods and all the canapés he can snaffle at parties. This example of an increasingly rare species – the first-time buyer – became an owner occupier, partly thanks to “generational subsidy” – that is, the Bank of Mum and Dad – and a supersized mortgage.

He is now fearful how his already overstretched finances will survive when his fixed-rate loan deal expires early next year. Adding to his anxiety is the fear that he bought at the top of the market – in a neighbourhood that has only lately become smart, and thus is likely to be the first to subside in value. Last night he watched the YouTube video of Roxy Music’s hit In Every Dream Home a Heartache. It sums up his feelings.

However, his friends who are still renting have little sympathy with his moaning. After all, he has secured a place on the ladder, a feat achieved by only 300,000 people this year.

In five years, the average price paid by a first-time buyer in London has climbed from £187,693 to £288,615. You can afford this only if you have a £55,000 salary, a 5 per cent deposit and can borrow the rest, based on a multiple of five times your earnings. The problem is that credit-crunch-hit lenders are now most reluctant to provide mortgages on such generous terms.

But it is not only niggardly lenders and spiralling property prices that have made first-time buyers so aggrieved. In the past few years, their position in the housebuying hierarchy has been usurped by buy-to-let investors who have snapped up cheaper properties. These amateur landlords enjoy tax relief on their mortgage interest repayments – no such boon is extended to first-time buyers. Stamp duty is another reason to resent the Government’s property tax policies. The average first-time buyer faces a tax charge of £1,750; the bill for the £288,615 London property would be £8,658. The stamp duty concessions have been token gestures only.

The housing market slowdown should help a few more aspiring owner-occupiers to realise their dream next year, but only if lenders start to loosen their purse strings.

But the woes of would-be first-time buyers are a godsend to buy-to-let investors, who can rely on a steady supply of tenants.

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