The Government is being warned that developers are only catering for the upper end of the housing market.

It comes as a new survey this week revealed first time buyers expect to take a minimum of six years to save up enough money for a deposit.

New central Bank rules dictate that a 20 per cent deposit is needed before a mortgage loan can be approved.

The Construction Industry Federation’s Hubert Fitzpatrick says the only houses being built at the moment are beyond the means of most buyers: “If you’ve got a house priced in Dublin at €300,000, the deposit required there would be €38,000 and the annual income required would be nearly €75,000.

“Clearly that is unsustainable for many first time buyers.

“We have in excess of 20,000 developments in Dublin at the moment where the house prices are less than €300,000.”