Due to rising property prices this gap is £15,000 larger than in 2013 and £18,000 higher than 2012, while the total is nearly double the average cost of a first-time buyer deposit (£26,000).
Almost half (46%) of potential second steppers think costs and fees are the greatest barriers to moving up the housing ladder, yet four in 10 (40%) think it will be easier to sell this year, almost double proportion in 2013.
In the past 12 months house prices have risen by 9.6% according to Halifax, giving people more equity in their properties when they come to sell, while three quarters (74%) of second steppers predict house prices to inflate further in the coming year.
Marc Page, mortgages director at Lloyds Bank, said: "The jump to the next step is growing quickly for second steppers, with the gap to the second home now being almost £60,000 nationally.
“However, as house prices are rising and barriers to the next step are reducing, confidence about selling the first home and being able to move up is increasing.
“For most regions of the country this is helping people make that jump across the gap to the next rung on the ladder.”
Second steppers estimate that their current properties have seen a 20% increase in value since they purchased their house, which was on average just over four years ago.
In this time, second steppers have seen their property values increase from £186,800 to £223,600 on average.
Across the country there are significant regional variations in the size of this gap between first-time buyer and second stepper homes.
In the West Midlands people need £21,000 to move to their desired second home, while at the other end of the scale people in East Anglia require £81,000.
