FTBs give up on ownership till 40

A further one in 12 aspiring first time buyers (8%) don’t expect ever to buy their own home.

In contrast, 74% of existing homeowners said they bought their first property before they were 30.

Only 13% 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%) expect their parents to provide 20% 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%) agree that their university debt will delay them getting on the property ladder and one in five (21%) agree that they would have been able to get on the property ladder earlier if they didn’t go to university.

Meanwhile 24% 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 21% said 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.”