One in five (20%) first-time buyers don’t think they will be able to buy until at least their 40s, research from Nationwide Building Society has found.
Around half (48%) of first-time buyers say their prospects of owning a home are further away than ever due to the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
Six in 10 (60%) are postponing their homeownership plans by up to three years.
Rachael Sinclair, Nationwide’s director of mortgages and financial wellbeing, said: “Getting that first home is as challenging as it ever has been. We need to solve the first-time buyer conundrum, which is why Nationwide has continually called for government to set up an independent review of the first-time buyer market.
“It’s why we’ll also be jointly launching a Housing White Paper with the Building Societies Association next week, which will outline the essential policy changes that are needed to tackle the homeownership crisis and support people into their first home.”
The current average age of a first-time buyer is 33.
With its white paper Nationwide will call for the government to encourage more high loan-to-value lending, as well as discuss other solutions to tackle what it deemed the ‘homeownership crisis’.
