According to moneysupermarket.com first-time buyers now don't expect to be able to afford to get onto the housing ladder before the age of 38. 

A whopping one third have given up completely on buying their own home. 

First-time buyers who are purchasing homes are putting down an average deposit of 23% which equates to £34,000 for a property costing £150,000, and that's without taking into account all the additional mortgage arrangement and solicitors fees.

Clare Francis of moneysupermarket.com feels that first-time buyers have been hit the hardest by the financial crisis and that house prices are still too high in many areas.  She is not surprised that such a high percentage has given up on home owning completely.

While saving for a deposit, one in five plans to rent a property.  Perhaps it’s a sign of things to come, as we are one of the few European countries that place such a high emphasis on owning your own home.  It's interesting to look at other countries such as Germany where the percentage of owner occupation is just 41%.

The average tenant rents a property for anything between three and seven years and treats the rental property as if it were their own.  That's got to be music to the ears of any landlord.