Average age of first time buyer in England climbs to 34

The average age of a first-time buyer in England has climbed to 34, with new research showing the growing difficulty of getting on the housing ladder.

The average age of first time buyers has crept up over time, with government figures showing it has been above the age of 33 since 2021/2022.

The research from Skipton Group, the parent company of the Skipton Building Society, also found stark changes in the circumstances of first-time buyers.

More than half of first-time buyers now need two incomes to make a purchase, compared to just 40% in the 1990s.

First-time buyers are also having to come up with larger deposits, as well as taking on mortgage debt for longer.

More than half of first-time buyers are now signing on for 30 years or more, with the average deposit worth around a tenth more than a person's yearly salary.

First-time buyers are also drawing more heavily on the bank of mum and dad - with almost one in three deposits coming from family gifts, and almost a tenth coming from inheritance.

While some challenges are universal, the difficulty of getting on the housing ladder depends largely on where in the country a person is based.

At the end of 2025, the three most affordable areas to live in Great Britain were East Renfrewshire, East Dunbartonshire, and Aberdeenshire.

In total, nine of the 10 most affordable areas were in Scotland, with Harborough in the East Midlands the 10th.

The three least affordable areas were Hackney, Westminster, and Tower Hamlets, with all the top 10 in London.

The report did highlight positive aspects of the housing market.

It also noted an increase in the number of first-time buyers purchasing houses, rather than flats.