It will take the average first-time 13 years to save for a house deposit, assuming prices don’t rise further, according to new research. 

Data from Interactive Investor shows that a 21-year old, saving 10% of their take-home pay, will not be able to put down a deposit on the average priced UK home until they are 34-years old. According to the Halifax, the average UK property is now £286,532.

The picture is considerably bleaker for young workers living in London, who despite higher-than average wages would take 19 years to save enough for a deposit on the average priced house in the capital. This means that they would be almost 40 years old before becoming homeowners. 

Interactive Investor’s research shows the picture is better for younger workers in areas with cheaper housing. Although wages are lower, workers in the North East would only need to save for an average of eight years to accumulate the required deposit. This means those saving form 21 could be on the housing ladder before their 30th birthday. 

The 2022 English Housing Survey revealed that the average age for first time buyers was 33.5 years old in 2022 and 33.8 in London, suggesting that many rely on family help to help them onto the housing ladder.

Interactive Investor head of pensions and savings Alice Guy says: “For previous generations it was relatively easy to live on beans and toast for a few years, knowing that home ownership would be possible after a few frugal years. But now young people have a long slog ahead and it’s easy for something to trip them up along the way, perhaps a period with lower pay or having children earlier than planned.

“It’s now almost impossible for many young workers to get onto the housing ladder without help from their families, meaning that there’s a widening gap between the haves and the have nots.”

She adds that mortgages with lower levels of deposit are helping to address this issue, although many of them still require a guarantor.