First-time home buyers are facing the highest mortgage interest costs for 15 years, new figures show.

Statistics from the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) showed that first timers in April were paying almost a fifth of their income on mortgage interest payments.

Interest costs now take up 18.7 per cent of the average first-time buyer's income - the highest level since 1992 and up from 16.3 per cent in April 2006.

The CML attributes the rising payments to the Bank of England's four rate rises since last August.

"Month on month we see affordability constraints for first-time buyers worsening," said the CML's director general Michael Coogan.

"And with the impact of May's interest rate rise still to be felt, many borrowers face higher costs in the coming months."

Michael Coogan, CML: "Month on month we see affordability constraints for first-time buyers worsening."

Rising rates are also affecting home movers who in April were paying 16.3 per cent of their income on mortgage interest - also the highest level since 1992.

The CML figures also reveal that first timers are now borrowing an average of 3.33 times their incomes to buy a property.

And according to the CML, mortgage interest payments will show another increase in May.

"Despite last week's decision by the Bank of England to hold rates at 5.5 per cent, borrowers will see further increases in the proportion of income they spend on mortgage interest payments once May's interest rate rise starts to be reflected in CML's data," the CML said.

Fears of higher interest rates has led to a record number of buyers opting for fixed-rate deals, the CML added.

Fixed-rate deals in April accounted for 78 per cent of all new home loans.

But the CML warned that borrowers who are about to come off a fixed-rate deal need to be thinking ahead about how they will absorb higher mortgage payments.

"The vast majority of borrowers will be able to absorb higher mortgage payments," said Mr Coogan.

"But with two million fixed-rate loans coming to an end over the next year and a half, many borrowers should anticipate that their mortgage costs are likely to rise and should be planning ahead."

A rising number of first timers are also having to pay stamp duty, the CML warned.

In April, 58 per cent of first-time buyers were forced to pay tax on their purchase - up from 51 per cent in the same month last year.

The article First-time buyers face record mortgage costs originally appeared on 999 Today