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A first time buyer viewing houses in an estate agents window
In 2014-15, just 14% of first-time buyer households comprised single people, compared with 29% in 1994-95. Photograph: Alamy
In 2014-15, just 14% of first-time buyer households comprised single people, compared with 29% in 1994-95. Photograph: Alamy

First-time buyers half as likely to be single as 20 years ago

This article is more than 7 years old

English housing survey shows share of market comprising couples rose, but singletons struggled due to rising house prices

The proportion of first-time buyers in England who are single has fallen by half over the past two decades, as high house prices make it increasingly difficult to go it alone in the property market.

Figures from the latest English Housing Survey show that in 2014-15 just 14% of first-time buyer households were made up of single people, compared with 29% in 1994-95. The change comes despite growth in people living alone, which the Office for National Statistics said accounted for 29% of UK households in 2015.

Over the same 20-year period, the share of the market that comprised couples rose from 63% to 80%, and the proportion of couples with children increased from 20% to 31%. The remaining 6% of buyers were loan parents or those buying in larger groups.

Andrew Montlake of mortgage brokers Coreco said: “You’ve seen house price rises during that time and the number of people who can afford to purchase a property on their own has fallen ... unless you have parental help it’s very difficult to be a single buyer, particularly in London.”

Between the summers of 1994 and 2014 the average price of a home in the UK rose from £51,731 to £188,810, according to figures from Nationwide. Over the same 20-year period, the median income of first-time buyer households went up from £18,600 to £43,200 – £16,000 more than the typical household income across England.

The majority were aged between 25 and 34, but the average age increased from 30 to 33, and the proportion of new buyers aged between 35 and 44 almost doubled – from 11% to 20%. The increase in average ages may also mean that people are more likely to be in a couple before they buy, Montlake said.

The survey shows that the number of first-time buyers dropped from 564,000 in 1994-95 to 300,000 in 2014-15 despite an increase in the number of households in the same period. First-time buyers were especially hit by the credit crunch in 2008, with banks and building societies withdrawing mortgages for those with small deposits, but they have come back into the market since the government’s help-to-buy scheme was launched in 2013.

The new housing minister, Gavin Barwell, said: “We are determined to ensure that anyone who works hard and aspires to own their own home has the opportunity to do so.”

He said that since 2010 more than 300,000 households had been helped into home ownership through government-backed schemes.

“The groundbreaking Housing and Planning Act will allow us to go even further delivering our ambition to build an additional 1m homes,” he added.

However, housing charity Shelter said the large amount of money needed to get on the property ladder was a “glaring reminder” of the lack of affordable homes.

Its chief executive, Campbell Robb, said: “More and more people on ordinary incomes have no choice but to face a lifetime of expensive, unstable private renting, unless they’re lucky enough to have help from friends and family.

“The new government has a real chance to ease the pressure on young people and families in these uncertain times by making housing a top priority, and bringing forward measures to quickly start building homes that people on ordinary incomes can actually afford to rent or buy.”

Figures from mortgage lenders and HMRC show that gross mortgage lending and the number of sales completed both rose in June.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders said its members advanced £20.7bn during the month, 16% more than in May and and 3% more than in June 2015. The figure, which includes remortgages and does not take into account repayments, is the highest June figure for eight years.

Meanwhile, HMRC reported that the number of residential property transactions for homes costing more than £40,000 increased by 4.9% between May and June to 94,550.The seasonally adjusted figure was, however, 10.2% lower than in June 2015.

Doug Crawford, chief executive of conveyancing firm My Home Move said: “The question now is what the impact will be for the rest of the year ... There have been anecdotal reports of a slight slowdown in July from the estate agents we work with, but it is impossible to tell how much of this is Brexit related and how much is down to a normal summer slowdown.

“The picture will only start to be clearer in September, after the holiday season.”

More on this story

More on this story

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  • Home ownership among 25-year-olds in England and Wales has halved in 20 years

  • Boom in office-to-home conversions drives rise in housing stock

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  • Only a decrepit society would deprive young families of a home

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  • Home ownership in England at lowest level in 30 years as housing crisis grows

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