Debt culture 'shaping property expectations'

Thrusday03 May 2007

Young homebuyers are prepared to get on the property ladder before the age their grandparents did, according to new research.


Friendly society Engage Mutual believes that Britain's all-pervasive debt culture is responsible for the shifting trend.


Those aged under 25 today see themselves buying a property aged 28, nine months earlier than the date their grandparents bought a house.


This optimism contrasts with under-25s lack of progress in other areas. Whereas today's retirees left home at 21, only 34 per cent today expect to wait until they reach their 24th birthdays.

Marriage is even further away for the younger generation. The average age at which under-25s predicted they could afford the ancient institution was 27, compared to 23.2 to their grandparents.


"Young people today face a very different financial landscape than today’s retirees faced 40 years ago," Karl Elliott of Engage Mutual commented.

"With consumer debt at an all-time high, 125 per cent mortgages readily available and credit at our fingertips, today’s young generation has become more accustomed to living with debt. As a result, attitudes to financial milestones are changing.

Source: http://www.inthenews.co.uk/