Did you buy your first home early or late?

The average first-time buyer age in the UK is 34 years old, according to the English Housing Survey 2024 to 25. This is up from 32 in 2019 to 20 and 29 in 2005. In London, the average rises to 35. Approximately 60% of first-time buyers are aged 25 to 34 (EHS 2023 to 24). The UK average has risen by approximately 5 years over the past two decades.

In the US, approximately 10 to 15% of first-time buyers are under 30 (NAR 2025). In the UK, approximately 20 to 25% of first-time buyers are under 30, reflecting the lower UK average age of 34 compared to the US median of 40. The US figure has dropped substantially from the early 2000s, when buying in your late 20s was common.

This calculator measures when people buy relative to their peers, not whether buying is the right choice. The rent-vs-buy decision depends on your local price-to-rent ratio, expected tenure length, opportunity cost of deposit capital, and flexibility needs. In high price-to-rent ratio markets, particularly London, New York, and San Francisco, renting can be financially rational even over long timeframes. A commonly used threshold is that renting makes sense if local house prices exceed 20 times annual rent; buying makes more sense below that threshold.

The NAR's 2025 figure of 40 reflects the convergence of several pressures: mortgage rates that reached 7-8% in 2023 to 2024 (the highest in two decades), house prices that continued rising despite higher rates, student debt repayment burdens, and a structural shortage of starter homes in most US markets. The 2025 figure represents a 7-year increase from the 2015 median of 31, a historically unprecedented pace of change. NAR notes that the all-cash buyer segment has also grown, further squeezing out younger first-time buyers who need financing.

In the US, NAR 2025 data shows first-time buyers putting down a median of 8% of purchase price, compared to repeat buyers who put down 19%. The traditional 20% down payment that eliminates private mortgage insurance (PMI) is out of reach for most first-time buyers on median-priced homes in most markets. In the UK, Help to Buy equity loans (now closed) and Lifetime ISAs have supported smaller deposits, with many first-time buyers putting down 5 to 10%. A 5% deposit on the UK average first-time buyer house price of approximately £225,000 requires £11,250, which takes a median earner approximately 3 to 4 years to accumulate at savings rates typical of renting households.

No. The US median first-time buyer age in 2025 is 40, meaning half of all first-time buyers in the United States are purchasing at 40 or older. Buying at 40 with a 30-year mortgage means completing repayment at 70, which intersects with retirement planning. Some lenders have maximum age limits for mortgage terms, but many will lend up to age 75 or 80 at end of term. Later buyers often have higher incomes, larger deposits, and stronger credit profiles. The financial case for buying at 40 vs 30 depends heavily on local market conditions, job stability, and the price-to-rent ratio.

Generation rent describes Millennials and younger adults who are renting for longer or indefinitely due to structural barriers to homeownership. The term emerged in the UK around 2012 to 2013 as house price-to-income ratios reached 5 to 6 times earnings nationally and higher in London, compared to 3 to 4 times in the 1980s and 1990s when Baby Boomers bought their first homes. The same dynamic has played out in the US, Australia, and Canada. The structural drivers include: planning restrictions that suppress new housing supply in high-demand areas, low interest rates from 2009 to 2022 that inflated asset prices, and increased institutional investment in residential property.

In the UK, the Lifetime ISA (LISA) provides a 25% government bonus on savings up to £4,000 per year, available for first-time buyers purchasing properties up to £450,000. The previous Help to Buy equity loan scheme closed to new applications in 2023. First-time buyers also pay no Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) on purchases up to £425,000 until the March 2025 threshold reduction. In the US, first-time buyers can withdraw up to $10,000 from an IRA penalty-free for home purchase, and some states offer down payment assistance programmes. FHA loans allow first-time buyers to purchase with as little as 3.5% deposit.

There is substantial regional variation within the UK. London has the highest average first-time buyer age (35) and the highest average purchase price. The North East of England and Wales tend to have lower ages, reflecting lower house prices relative to incomes. The English Housing Survey 2023 to 24 shows that approximately 60% of first-time buyers nationally are aged 25 to 34, but this proportion is lower in London and the South East where the age distribution skews older. First-time buyer affordability varies from roughly 4x median earnings in Northern regions to 10x in prime London, driving the age disparity.

In the UK, homeownership rates by age have declined substantially across cohorts. English Housing Survey data shows that in the early 1990s, approximately 65% of 25 to 34 year olds owned their home. By 2023 to 24, this had fallen to approximately 35%. In the US, the homeownership rate among adults under 35 was 38.2% in Q1 2024, significantly below the overall US rate of 65.6%. Baby Boomers achieved homeownership at substantially younger ages than Millennials will, even controlling for lifecycle stage, primarily because house price-to-earnings ratios were dramatically lower when they were in their 20s and 30s.