BUYING YOUR DREAM HOME?

It might not be easy – but it’s great to have a place to call your own

Something strange is happening to home-buyers – we’re all getting a lot older. Back in the 1960s the average firsttime buyer moved in at just 24 years old. Today a Populus poll for the Post Office* says the average first-timer is 30 – the oldest on record. Worse still, twentysomething workers saving up to buy think it will take them even longer – till they’re 38 – to get on the housing ladder.

Moving up that ladder is taking longer as well. The poll shows it takes us till we’re 39 to get into our second home – and most of us don’t actually expect to do it till we’re 42.

But while our ages are changing, our love of property remains constant. New research from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) says that nearly eight out of ten homeowners would rather put down roots and enjoy where they are than move up the housing ladder. One in four owners say they ‘just love’ their homes.

Fortunately there are plenty of ways to share that feeling. The fourpage ‘Home at last!’ supplement in this weekend’s Mail on Sunday is designed to back up that desire with a host of practical, useful tips. For all the challenges, it is still possible to get a place to call your own. Choose well and you can be happy there for years. The right homes can be adapted or extended as your circumstances change. First homes can turn into family homes. And it’s never too late to get the home you’ve always dreamed of.

* Populus poll for the Post Office, May 2013