Nearly two-fifths (38 per cent) of aspiring first time buyers anticipate being 40 or older when they buy their new home, according to new research from property website Globrix.com, which reveals the divide in the housing market between home-owning baby boomers and the younger generations struggling to get on the property ladder. Shockingly, a further […]
Nearly two-fifths (38 per cent) of aspiring first time buyers anticipate being 40 or older when they buy their new home, according to new research from property website Globrix.com, which reveals the divide in the housing market between home-owning baby boomers and the younger generations struggling to get on the property ladder.
Shockingly, a further one in 12 aspiring first time buyers (eight per cent) surveyed by Globrix.com don’t expect ever to buy their own home.
In contrast, 74 per cent of existing homeowners said they bought their first property before they were 30. Only 13 per cent of aspiring first time buyers said they would be able to get their foot on the property ladder before reaching that age.
Aspiring first time buyers are also relying heavily on the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ to help them get their first place: over a quarter (26 per cent) expect their parents will be able to provide 20 per cent or more of the deposit they need to buy their first home.
Globrix.com’s research also suggests that university debt may be acting as a further barrier to young people getting onto the property ladder.
Of those surveyed by Globrix.com who had graduated since 2006, one in seven (14 per cent) agree that their university debt will delay them getting on the property ladder and one in five (21 per cent) agree that they would have been able to get on the property ladder earlier if they didn’t go to university.
Meanwhile nearly one in four (24 per cent) of those who haven’t been to university said that, for them, getting on the property ladder is more important than getting a degree and one in five (21 per cent) say they are glad they didn’t go to university as the debt means it wouldn’t have been worth it.
Jennifer Warner from Globrix.com said: “Many young people who want to get on the property ladder have accepted that they will be much older by the time they finally do. A significant portion have given up the dream altogether.
“What we’re seeing is a major generational shift towards the realisation that buying your own home will be an elite rather than a mainstream lifestyle choice in the coming decades, and to a large extent only those with wealthy parents who can contribute towards a deposit will be able to buy a place of their own.
“Many young people already accept renting as a long-term alternative to buying, and with average university debt set to increase significantly over the next few years we can only see this trend strengthening.”
