Changes in the way houses are bought and sold in Scotland are being urged by an MP in Aberdeen, where prices rose 35% last year, the second-biggest rise in the UK.

Anne Begg, the MP for Aberdeen South, has written to First Minister Alex Salmond to ask him to reassess the system.

She said that in Aberdeen houses sold for an average of £218,152, only £32,000 less than the average price in central London. She believes that the blind bidding system is making it very difficult for first-time buyers to get on the property ladder and is adding to house inflation.

"Everyone will have their own anecdotal evidence of people being outbid on houses, or hearing of friends who have only managed to buy their house by bidding anywhere between 50% and 100% over the asking price.

"However, banks and building societies will only give mortgages on the actual value of the house, not the amount paid.

"The gap between the purchase price and the valuation price has widened to such an extent that unless you have £20,000 or more as a deposit then you won't be able to buy the house. The only people who have the capital are people who are moving to a new house, landlords who are buying to let and people with enough savings in the bank. The majority of first-time buyers just aren't in this position."

A survey by Clydesdale Bank in 2004 found that 80% of house buyers were unhappy with the current "offers over" process, a figure that Ms Begg believes will have increased because of the rampant house inflation at the moment.

"I would like the Scottish Executive to look at a change in the way in which we buy houses so that buyers are not forced to pay over the odds to secure a property.

"We need to bring balance back into the market and help buyers. I hope that the First Minister and the executive will look into this. The prospective house buyers of Scotland need a chance.

"The present system may be good for people who are selling up in Aberdeen and moving to a cheaper area but for those who are selling to buy another property the gain on the sold property is soon swallowed up by the extra paid on the new property."

She said that although the Scottish Executive's Housing Improvement Task Force had previously looked at buying and selling houses in Scotland it didn't look at the way in which buyers bid on houses.