The UK's average first-time buyer age is 28 – but brokers say location, deposits, and education still hold many back
British first-time buyers are getting on the property ladder younger than almost anywhere else in Europe, but brokers warn local house prices, deposit barriers, and a financial education gap mean the national picture masks a far more complex reality on the ground.
New data published by Euronews Business, drawing on the RE/MAX European Housing Trend Report 2025, places the UK's average first-time buyer age at 28.4 years – the joint second-lowest across 23 European countries and the lowest among Europe's five largest economies.
Two in five UK buyers purchase their first home before the age of 25, the highest share in that age bracket across the countries surveyed. The European average sits at 31.3 years.
For mortgage brokers working with first-time buyers day to day, however, the figures tell only part of the story.
Location shapes the reality
Ilford-based Sadia Mehmood (pictured top left), mortgage and protection adviser at The Mortgage Mum, told Mortgage Introducer the buyers she typically works with skew older than the national average – a pattern she puts down to house prices in her area.
"Generally, they have been older and doing it later because they've needed to save up for a deposit," she said. "Where I'm based, the property prices are higher. A two-bedroom house can be between £350,000 and £375,000 and a three-bedroom between £420,000 and £450,000, so if you're buying at a bigger value, then obviously you need a bigger deposit."
David Titherington (pictured top right), director at The Mortgage Station in Hertfordshire, echoed the regional caveat. "I think generally first-time buyers do seem to be older," he told Mortgage Introducer. "Certainly, the enquiries I've had through recently, most seem to be in their early 30s."
Altrincham-based Rhys Edwards (pictured top middle), mortgage consultant at Brooks Financial, told Mortgage Introducer his own client base trends younger – typically between 22 and 26 – which he attributes in part to the financially aware clients he works with. "They want to get on the housing ladder earlier and kind of on the career pathway," he said.
The deposit challenge and the bank of mum and dad
The RE/MAX data found more than half of UK adults aged 18 to 34 receive financial help from family – either through a cash gift or inheritance – one of the highest rates in Europe. All three brokers say gifted deposits are increasingly common, with family support extending well beyond parents.
"I'm seeing a lot of family support, not always mum and dad, sometimes it is aunties and uncles, grandparents as well," Mehmood said. "Family support is the big one to help get onto the property ladder."
Brokers say lenders have also stepped up with products designed to lower the entry bar. Mehmood pointed to Skipton Building Society's track record mortgage, which uses a borrower's rental payment history in place of a traditional deposit, alongside Halifax's £5,000 minimum deposit product and Santander's £10,000 deposit option.
"Lenders are trying to find ways to help first-time buyers because they know that saving for the deposit is the harder part," she said.
Financial education – the gap brokers want to close
Beyond deposits, brokers identify a growing financial literacy gap as a structural challenge. Edwards said he regularly encounters clients who have inadvertently damaged their affordability position through decisions made without understanding the consequences – a pattern he believes points to a systemic problem.
"People don't understand that taking car finance out a couple of weeks ago is going to reduce their affordability on a mortgage," he said. "There's an educational gap within finance full stop. It should be part of the national curriculum to be brutally honest."
Mehmood noted younger buyers are increasingly turning to TikTok and ChatGPT for initial research, but not always with reliable results. "They still come to us for reassurance and guidance because you don't know if what you're reading online is true or how accurate it is," she said.
For younger clients in particular, Mehmood has been recommending 40-year mortgage terms – the maximum available from most lenders – to bring monthly payments to a manageable level. "It just allows them to feel a bit better that they're not just living to pay their mortgage and they still have a bit of disposable income," she said.
Edwards is broadly optimistic, pointing to improved lender confidence since the credit crunch. "There are certainly less barriers for people getting onto the property ladder," he said. But for Titherington, the bigger challenge is one of awareness, and the industry's responsibility to close that gap.
"I wonder how many would-be first-time buyers are out there thinking all hope is lost and don't even reach out for advice when actually, purchasing their first home could be well within reach."
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