THE number of first time buyers relying on the Bank of Mum and Dad for support has dropped significantly but Scotland remains among the main hotspots in the UK for relying on parents according to new research.

Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks' Annual First Time Buyers Survey has revealed that less than half (46%) of the UK's first time buyers needed help in saving for their deposit in 2014. This compares with 63% in 2013 and more than three quarters (78%) in 2012.

In Scotland it has dropped from 59% in 2013 to 52% in 2014.

But the country is placed third on a table charting the ten areas of the UK with the highest reliance on parents. Topping the list is the South West (57%) while the least reliant were first time buyers in Yorkshire where only around one in four opted for parents' assistance.

Steve Fletcher, head of Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks Retail Network, said: "It is positive that the number of first time buyers relying on the Bank of Mum and Dad to get on the property ladder has decreased significantly. This reflects the increased availability of first time buyer mortgages with a low deposit as well as growing economic confidence particularly among housebuyers.

The results were echoed in a separate study by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) who said almost half (48%) of people taking their first step on to the property ladder last year did so without needing extra cash from relatives such as parents and grandparents.

They said this marks a significant increase compared with the 34% of first-time buyers who were thought to have got into the market in 2011 without needing added help in raising their deposit.

Figures recently released by the CML have shown that more than 300,000 home loans were handed out to first-time buyers during 2014, marking the largest number seen since 2007.

First-time buyers also continued to account for an increasing proportion of the buying market overall, representing 46% of purchases in 2014.

The new findings were released as the Government said that its flagship Help to Buy housing scheme has helped more than 88,000 people buy a new home since its creation in 2013.

So far, 80% of scheme completions under the Help to Buy equity loan and mortgage guarantee schemes have been made by first-time buyers.

Help to Buy aims to help credit-worthy people who only have small deposits saved to move on to or up the property ladder.

The CML estimated that 38% of first-time buyers became home-owners without assistance - whether from parents or from Help to Buy schemes - in 2014, up from 34% in 2011.

But it said that with the house price increases seen last year, affordability pressures on first-time buyers are likely to become a little more stretched again.

Toughened mortgage lending rules also came into force last year which will present further difficulties for some people trying to take their first step on to the property ladder.