First-time buyers keen to take advantage of 0% stamp duty should act now - as from March 24, the land tax will become payable again on all homes costing more than £125,000.

The concession, which was announced by the government in the 2010 March Budget, meant those who had never before purchased a home would escape the first 1% threshold of the tax which usually applies to all property costing between £125,001 and £250,000.

On a £250,000 home, this is a potential saving of £2,500.

Hopes of the concession being extended beyond the two years were dashed in November 2011 when the Chancellor, George Osborne, confirmed in his Autumn Statement that the tax would resume as normal in March this year.

Getting ready with your mortgage

But with less than two months to go until the deadline, if you were already planning to buy your first home this spring, you should start thinking about applying for your mortgage now. After all, even when you do not encounter problems with your application, it can still take an average of between three and four weeks to process, according to brokers.

Raising a deposit

One of the biggest hurdles first-time buyers face when it comes to mortgages is raising an adequate deposit as, post-credit crunch, 100% loans are a thing of the past.

The majority of banks and building societies - around 70% of the market, according to some MoneySupermarket number-crunching - offer mortgages of up to 90% of the cost of the property. However, that still means raising £16,000 against an average-priced home and you will need money for fees and removal costs too.

If you can't raise this amount, a handful of lenders still offer mortgages to borrowers who only have a 5% deposit. Of the 14 lenders in the 95% loan-to-value camp, the vast majority are building societies, including Leeds, Shepshed, Cambridge and Skipton.

The bigger the loan, the higher the cost

However, the larger the proportion of the property price you borrow, the greater risk you are perceived by the mortgage lender and the higher interest rate you will pay.

According to research by MoneySupermarket, the average rate on a 95% mortgage deal is 5.67%. If you took a £150,000 repayment mortgage payable over 25 years, this would cost you £936.42 a month in repayments.

For borrowing of 90%, the average rate falls to 5.28% which would bring your monthly repayment down to £901.52.

However, if you can possibly scrape together 25% of the property value, the average rate plummets to 3.69% which would cost just £788.44.

This is something of a catch-22 for first-time buyers as, while you can save as hard as possible, there is not much you can do about the way lenders price their mortgages.

However, this is why it's more important than ever to carry out your research and shop around for the best mortgage deals. So what's currently on offer for first-timers with a minimal deposit?

The best mortgages with a 10% deposit

If you can muster a 10% deposit, HSBC is offering a two-year discount deal currently priced at 3.84% with no fee. However, it is important to bear in mind that discount mortgages are linked to the lender's Standard Variable Rate (SVR) and not to the base rate. So, even though base rate hasn't budged from 0.5% for nearly three years, a lender can theoretically raise its SVR whenever it sees fit - which means your mortgage repayments will go up too.

If you would prefer to track the base rate with your 90% mortgage, HSBC has a market-leading tracker loan, currently priced at 4.59% with no fee. Your repayments on this deal will only rise if base rate does. Some experts think this won't happen until 2016 - though of course, there are no guarantees.

Many first-timers prefer the security of a fixed rate deal as it means they can be sure of their monthly repayments for the agreed term. If you are among them and have a 10% deposit, the best fixed rate deal on the market is currently from Leek United Building Society. It is priced at 3.99% for three years and comes with a £995 fee.

The best mortgage with a 5% deposit

If you can only lay your hands on a 5% deposit, Market Harborough Building Society is offering a 3.99% discount for the term of the mortgage, which comes with a £95 fee and 2% early repayment charges for the first two years. However, a family member is required to invest a further 20% of the purchase price with the building society for five years.

If you are looking for a fixed rate deal in return for your 5% deposit, Lloyds TSB's Lend a Hand deal comes top of the tables, charging 4.04% for three years with a £1,094 fee.

However, as with the Market Harborough deal, a family member will need to put a further 20% of the property value with the bank - but this time for a three-year period.

If you don't have the luxury of a 'helping hand', Shepshed Building Society is offering a five-year fix priced at 5.49%, with a £499 fee.

Please note: Any rates or deals mentioned in this article were available at the time of writing.