First-time house buyers getting older

A recent study revealed that one in three first-time house buyers is now over 35 years of age. This shows a marked increase from just one out of...

00:00 16 July 2012

A recent study revealed that one in three first-time house buyers is now over 35 years of age. This shows a marked increase from just one out of ten a decade ago.

 

The significant spike in the number of older people buying their first houses is further proof that young people are struggling to start investing in their own home.

 

The survey, which was conducted by the Government’s English Housing, showed that 32.3 per cent of first-time buyers during the years 2008 and 2011 were age aged over 35 years. Up to 6.5 per cent of this total number were aged over 40 and even 50.

 

Campbell Robb, chief executive of housing charity Shelter, said that renting has become “a way of life for a whole generation of Britons.”

 

“Renting is becoming the new normal.” Unfortunately, paying rent is not a cheaper alternative but is actually

more costly, the survey revealed.

 

Robb also says that more and more Britons are getting ‘locked out of the housing market’.

 

Studies show, however, that some Brits cannot even afford to rent their own homes and are therefore forced to live in their parents’ homes until their late thirties or forties.

 

The bleak housing situation is not that promising for the younger generation, many of whom are desperate to buy their own home instead of rent.