Britain’s increasingly unaffordable housing market has delayed the age when most adults become homeowners by at least eight years since 1997, according to official figures.
Among one of several signals that young adults are being forced to wait until much later in life to reach key milestones, the Office for National Statistics said it took until the age of 34 for more than half of the population to own their own home, compared to 26 in 1997.
Average house prices in Britain have skyrocketed by more than 270% over the past two decades – with a significant acceleration for property values since the financial crisis a decade ago – pushing homes out of reach for growing numbers of people.
