Generation Rent research released today by the Halifax has found that 45% of 18 to 35 year-olds want to buy their first home with their romantic partner. The study also revealed that twice as many men (one in five) than women admitted waiting for their partner to try and get on to the property ladder.
Almost one in six (15%) plan to stay with their parents until they can afford to buy, so parents may be forced to sit tight in the meantime, as a third (32%) of young people aged 18 to 35 see themselves buying their first home within the next five years.
The bad news for parents of under 25s is that one in ten don’t see themselves becoming a homeowner within the next decade. They are, however, still expecting a donation from the Bank of Mum and Dad, with fewer than one in five saying that inheritance isn’t an option for them.
“It’s not difficult to see why so many young people are now waiting for a partner to take their first step onto the property ladder, as the average UK first-time buyer deposit reached a whopping £32,899 earlier this year,” commented Martin Ellis, Halifax’s housing economist.
First-time buyers are putting down an eye-watering average deposit of £106,577 in London, against £16,457 in Northern Ireland. The average house price paid by first-time buyers in the UK was the highest on record (£207,693) in the first half of this year, growing 50% over the past five years from £138,663 to £207,693 and outperforming price growth across the entire market (42%).
Despite the record-breaking prices, the number of people getting on the housing ladder has exceeded 150,000 for the third time in four years, thanks to high levels of employment, low mortgage rates and government schemes such as Help to Buy.
