The stamp duty exemption has failed to increase numbers of first-time buyers, a survey showed today.
Only about a quarter of people planning to buy a property during the coming year are first-time buyers, according to property website Rightmove.
The 26.3% figure is just 0.5% higher than in January, despite the latest research coming two weeks after the Government's suspension of stamp duty for two years for first-time buyers purchasing a property costing up to £250,000.
Rightmove, which questioned 35,159 people in the survey, warned that about 40% of buyers should be first timers in a healthy housing market.
Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove, said: "A rise of just half a% on the past quarter falls a long way short of the desired impetus many were hoping the new stamp duty threshold could bring.
"First-time buyers are vital at the foot of the property market food chain, but these results suggest this area of the market has been left malnourished by the recession and restrictive lending.
"This survey of first-time buyer intent is an early indication that we are unlikely to see any significant growth in their numbers over the next 12 months."
London has the highest proportion of potential buyers who will be purchasing their first home at 43.3%, more than double the 20.9% in the South West and well up on 22.4% in Wales.
About 54% of first-time buyers think it is a good time to purchase, while 52% expect prices to be higher in 12 months.
