A large number of first-time buyers have been unable to fulfil their dream of homeownership in the timeframe they had expected, with 43% of renters saying they expected to own a home by this point in their life, the Building Societies Association reveals.

The latest research reveals that for those aged 25 to 44, the typical age for buying a first home, the number who expected to own their first home by now increased to 59%.

While some 31% of 25 to 44 year olds think they will be able to buy a home within the next five years, a similar number of 33% want to buy their own home but don’t think they will ever be able to achieve this.

Five years ago, 15% of renters said they didn’t want to buy their own home but this figure has now halved to just 8% who have no aspiration to buy their own home.

Analysis of historic FTB data shows that around 7.2 million individuals or couples would have been expected to buy their first home since 2006.

However, only 5 million have achieved homeownership in this time, meaning there are 2.2 million missing FTBs from the property market.

The latest property tracker reveals that would-be homebuyers face substantial affordability challenges with raising the necessary deposit being the biggest barrier for those wanting to buy a home, selected by 61% of respondents.

This rises even further to 67% for those looking to buy their first home.

Affordability of mortgage payments is also a significant obstacle, with almost two-thirds (60%) citing this. This is similar for FTBs at 61%.

It also found that 43% of people said accessing a large enough mortgage is a hurdle to buying a home in the UK. This rises to almost half (48%) for FTBs.

It also highlights that the lack of job security has started to nudge up as a barrier to buying a home with 26% now stating this is an issue. This compares to less than one in five who said it was an obstacle two years ago (19% in Jun 23).

This likely reflects the slow but gradual increase in unemployment and the fall in job vacancies in recent years.

Overall, the property tracker shows confidence in the housing market remains low.

Just 15% of people think now is a good time to buy a property, a decline from one in five (20%) at the start of this year (Jan 2025). Almost double this (36%), do not think it is currently a good time to buy a home.

Despite house prices remaining relatively stable this year, around half (44%) of the population think they will rise over the next 12 months, with only one in ten (12%) thinking they will fall.

Looking at renters aged 18 to 24, who are expected to be the next generation of homeowners, it found that 86% would like to get on the property ladder.

Many are optimistic about when they will achieve this, with 28% believing they will become a homeowner in the next five years.

However, one in five (19%), don’t think they will ever be able to achieve this, up from just 12% five years ago.

BSA head of mortgages and housing policy Paul Broadhead says: “Our studies into first-time buyers show that they face the toughest conditions in over 70 years.”

“That comes into sharp focus when you see the statistics of the number of people in rented accommodation who have been unable to achieve their dream of homeownership in line with their life plan.”

“It’s shocking that 2.2 million first-time buyers who would have reasonably expected to buy their own home have failed to do so since the financial crisis. And the research shows how quickly that number is growing – in 2020 only 12% of 18–24 year olds felt homeownership was out of reach, today that figure has increased to 19%.”

“We can’t remove the barriers to homeownership overnight, and there won’t be a solution that enables everyone to get on the property ladder.”

“But there is more that can, and must, be done, including regulatory flexibility and Government focus on long-term solutions, such as increasing housing supply, rather than short-term demand-side boosts.”

“Our first-time buyer reports provide several tangible actions that could be implemented to help fix the broken housing market and in turn support today’s aspiring homebuyers as well as next generation. Every day that passes without real action raises the number of potential lifetime renters.”