First time buyer homeownership age rises four years to 36

The average age when an adult buys a home for the first time is 36, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) data. Homeownership age in 2022 has increased by four years from 2004.

The data shows that first-time buyers are increasingly reliant on help from family and friends to get onto the housing ladder.

The data analysis between April 2022 and March 2023 found that 36% of recent first-time buyers used gifts from family and friends to help buy a home, while 9% relied on inheritance. These rates far exceed these seen 20 years ago, when 20% of first-time buyers received financial support from family and friends and 3% relied on an inheritance.

The report has found that house prices have increased faster than incomes, meaning that housing is less affordable now than in 2004 with longer mortgage terms and financial gifts or inheritance are becoming “increasingly important in getting on the housing ladder.

Between April 2022 to March 2023, 36% of recent first-time buyers — resident less than three years — used gifts from family or friends and 9% used inheritance.

But between 2003 to 2004, 20% of first-time buyers — resident less than five years — used gifts from family or friends and 3% used inheritance.

The survey adds that the age that more than half of people did not live with their parents increased to 24 years in 2021 from 21 years in 2011. It points out that more men live with their parents than women, with 61% of adults living with their parents in the 2021 Census classed as male.

The average age that people owned their home outright was 61 in 2022, two years earlier than in 2004. The report also highlighted that longer mortgages (over 30 years) in line with the age of first-time buyers is increasing.