Home Sweet Home: 55% Increase in Young Adults Skipping Renting and Choosing Homeownership

Despite rising costs of living, latest data reveals that the number of people moving straight to their own homes from their parents and missing out renting entirely has increased by 55% in the last 10 years.

In a new analysis of ONS data, UK-based packaging supplier, Sadlers, discovers:

• 98,000 Brits went straight to homeownership from living with their parents in 2021/22, compared to only 63,000 in 2012/13 – a 55.5% increase.
• The average age of a first-time buyer has stayed roughly the same however, at age 31 (compared to 30 in 2012/13), suggesting that young adults are living with their parents for longer.
• As for how much they’re spending, the latest average house price for a first-time buyer is £239,589, as of June 23 – an annual increase of 1.5% – although nearly 100,000 less than that being spent by former owners (£336,257).

Interestingly, this suggests that young people prefer to save their money rather than spend on renting, and don’t mind living with their parents to do so. But this doesn’t mean they have it easy. Although the government ‘Help to Buy’ scheme controversially ended on 31st March of this year, interest in alternative options is rising, with search interest in “first time home buyer programs“ increasing by 80% and “shared ownership“ increasing by 160% in the last 12 months. Meanwhile, “first homes scheme near me” has become a new breakout trend on Google.

Only available in England, the ‘First Homes Scheme’ gives first-time buyers a 30-50% discount on newly built homes,  compared to their market value. Recently, Rishi Sunak pledged to meet his manifesto and build 1 million new homes during his time in parliament, meaning more homes should be available for this scheme in the years to come. However, there is a catch, these houses can only be sold to someone who is eligible to buy a ‘First Home’, and when selling you must give the ‘same percentage discount that you got, based on the home’s market value at the time of sale’, according to the scheme’s web page.

According to Which?, the average cost of moving house has risen by 21%, from £11,777 in 2021 to £14,207 in 2022, although this is considerably less for first-time buyers. While costs such as conveyancing and house surveys are likely non-avoidable, Brits are forking out a whopping £649 on removals alone. Lauren Sadler, Head of Sustainability at Sadlers, notes how taking on this responsibility yourself, can be both a money-saver, and win for the environment:

“Most people use cardboard boxes to pack up their belongings, but buying packaging materials from a local store or online is usually expensive and means buying new boxes. Even if these cardboard boxes claim to be recycled, they contain a proportion of new tree fibres, and the process of manufacturing itself uses large amounts of water and energy.

“To help protect the environment, you can use secondhand boxes. This extends their life and prevents unnecessary use of natural resources. Some companies specifically sell used boxes but you can also find them for free at grocery stores or on local social media groups.”

Sadlers now sells a budget home moving pack that is specifically created from a stock of pre-used boxes, to meet this need.

With the number of Brits moving house every 1-5 years growing by over 25% across the last decade, Lauren encourages movers to consider saving their used boxes to be re-used in the future. “Cardboard boxes can be used many times before they must be recycled as long as they are not badly damaged – any damaged ones can be recycled straight away. You may also be able to sell your boxes on sites like Gumtree or Facebook marketplace to someone else who is moving house. Or, if you got your boxes for free, pay it forward by offering them to someone for nothing. As a last resort, your boxes can be recycled.“

For top tips on what not to do when packing for a house move, visit: https://sadlers.co.uk/blogs/blog/what-not-to-do-when-packing-for-a-house-move-advice-from-the-experts