First-time house buyers should be given the chance to take on 95% mortgages to help realise the "dream" of property ownership, according to the Scottish Conservative leader.
Ruth Davidson said she is lobbying Prime Minister David Cameron and Chancellor George Osborne in an attempt to stop people struggling to find large deposits to satisfy stricter rules among lenders.
Ms Davidson, who still rents her home, said: "It is obviously right that banks are stopped from selling mortgages to people who can't afford to make the monthly payments.
"But it is wrong that mortgages are no longer available to people who can afford to make the monthly payments, but who suddenly - as a knock-on effect of irresponsible bank lending in the past - are required to have at least 20% or 30% deposit instead of a 5% deposit."
She welcomed Scottish Government action on new-build property but wants bigger changes.
"That's why I'm calling on the UK Treasury to do more with the Bank of England to come up with a way to bring back affordable, 95% mortgages," she told an invited audience at the Mitchell Library in Glasgow.
"Such deals are still common in other countries like the US, Canada and Australia, so why can't they return here?
"I don't want to encourage people to take on loans they can't afford, but lending with small deposits has been an important part of our mortgage market for a long time. In the past it has helped families on modest incomes achieve the dream of buying their own home. It is time for us to take real action to rekindle that dream."
The plan was revealed in a wider policy speech, where she also proposed to cut income tax by 1p and extend free nursery provision to the most disadvantaged two-year-olds.
The tax cut would amount to about £563 million in 2016, the party calculated. To pay for the nursery policy, she later suggested reviewing funds for tuition fees, council budgets, eye tests and concessionary bus travel.
