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Speaking exclusively to Mortgage Adviser, Mr Gray, head of mortgages for Woolwich, said there was "no doubt" the lender would like to expand its purchase proposition but only at the "appropriate time".

Last month Halifax, RBS Intermediary Partners, Nationwide and HSBC all pledged more help would be on the way for first-time buyers.

Skipton Building Society has also returned to the first-time buyer market offering 95 per cent loan-to-value with a family-based deal.

Mr Gray said: "There is no doubt about it and first-time buyers would be one of the planks of future development and I say that we would want that opportunity. There would naturally be a place in that market given our wide breadth of customers we deal with but it has to be at the right time.

"We have always had a presence in that market, you naturally would do with having a branch network with Barclays. Although through the intermediary market the first-time buyer element is not what you would recognise from our brand.

"It is a place we would like to develop and like to be known for in terms of developing our purchase proposition, but when the time is right to develop those propositions and when it is appropriate and we can live up to what that proposition is for both the intermediary and for the end customer."

Mr Gray said while Woolwich did have a focus on lower LTV lending in the current market it did not mean its proposition was not available to first-time buyers.

He said: "We do have a proposition like many lenders at the moment that goes to 90 per cent LTV given the current market conditions at the moment.

"What we have to reflect is the nature of the UK mortgage market and what is happening at the present time and write business which is comfortable with our risk profile as an organisation. It means there will be certain markets that we do not compete in.

"We have not competed in it we will not do probably until the future. What we want to do is make sure we are very clear and open over what our proposition is which is focusing on lifetime trackers and offset mortgages.

"It is a formula that has been very successful for us and one that would probably not want to deviate too far away from at the present time."