The average age when a UK adult buys a home is 36, according to official data, in a picture that also shows people leaving home later in life.  

Homeownership in 2022 lifted by four years from 2004, says the National Office for Statistics in its Milestones: journeying through modern life survey.  

It says: “House prices have increased faster than incomes, meaning that housing is less affordable now than in 2004.”  

And adds that longer mortgage terms and financial gifts or inheritance are becoming “increasingly important in getting on the housing ladder”.  

Between April 2022 to March 2023, 36% of recent first-time buyers — resident less than three years — used gifts from family or friends and 9% used inheritance.   

But between 2003 to 2004, 20% of first-time buyers — resident less than five years — used gifts from family or friends and 3% used inheritance.    

The survey adds that the age that more than half of people did not live with their parents increased to 24 years in 2021 from 21 years in 2011.  

It points out that more men live with their parents than women, with 61% of adults living with their parents in the 2021 Census classed as male.  

The average age that people owned their home outright was 61 in 2022, two years earlier than in 2004.  

But the report points out: “Longer mortgages — over 30 years — are becoming more available, and the age of first-time buyers is increasing.   

“These changes could see the age at which people own their home outright rising in the future.”