By Jennifer Hill

LONDON (Reuters) - A quarter of "recession virgins" are worried about negative equity, a poll shows.

Around 23 percent of those between the ages of 24 and 34 who have not worked through a recession are fretting over the prospect for house price growth this year, according to personal finance website Fool.co.uk.

One-sixth of these 1,000 people said they had made regular enquiries about the value of their home over the past three months.

Britain's largest mortgage lender, Halifax, said a week ago that house prices are falling at their sharpest rate since the recession of the early 1990s, far worse than expected -- stoking fears a moderate slowdown will deepen and bring home repossessions and negative equity.

Over half (56 percent) of the homeowners polled said they plan to sit tight in the hope of riding out the credit crunch and faltering house price growth, and 13 percent have cancelled plans to move until the situation becomes clearer.

However, 13 percent of recession virgins who had not previously planned to enter the housing market, said that falling house prices might encourage them to do so.

David Kuo, head of personal finance at Fool.co.uk, said: "Young people who have not experienced previous recessions are understandably worried about the property market.

"They include both those who have just bought their first house and those who want to get on the ladder -- but whose hopes are being dashed by over-cautious lenders."