The research shows that monthly mortgage repayments have increased by 39 per cent between 2018 and 2023, from £1,008 to £1,404 per month. This compares to an increase of just 4.3 per cent between 2013 and 2018, from £966 to £1,008.

The analysis uses the current monthly cost of a mortgage, which is based on an average mortgage rate with an 80 per cent loan-to-value ratio, and how that monthly cost has changed over the last five and 10 years, after adjusting for inflation.

Jonathan Samuels, chief executive of Octane Capital, said: "In today's market, it is much more expensive to repay a mortgage than it was five years ago, and most of the growth over the last decade has come since 2018.

It could be argued that the Bank of England's caution in trying to manage inflation has prolonged the pain.

Despite some positive signs this week, with some lenders having cut fixed rates below the 5% threshold, the current climate is likely to hamper the aspirations of many who want to own their own homes.

However, it is highly unlikely that we will see the Bank of England raise its base rate again this week, so it is unclear how long this period of increased mortgage affordability will last.

Between 2013 and 2018, typical mortgage rates fell from 3.79 per cent to 2.34 per cent, keeping monthly repayment costs low despite house price rises.

House prices have soared by 22.2 per cent in five years, from £234,000 in 2013 to £286,000 in 2018, and it's likely that such cheap mortgages have fuelled the rise in house prices.

The challenge for homebuyers in 2018 is not mortgage affordability, but finding more deposits, as the typical 20 per cent deposit rose from £46,800 in 2013 to £57,200 in 2018.

However, house prices have only risen by 1% since 2018 to around £287,500 by 2023 as rising mortgage rates have become problematic, along with pandemics and last year's infamous mini-budget this month which put the brakes on the market.

By September 2023, average mortgage rates had soared to 5.44 per cent as the Bank of England has embarked on a series of base rate hikes in a bid to control inflation.