Accredited official statistics

Chapter 3: Housing history and future housing

Published 28 November 2024

Applies to England

Introduction

This chapter discusses the demographic and economic characteristics of first time buyers, before outlining the future buying expectations of renters. This is followed by an assessment of length of time in current accommodation and tenure, and then details household moves over the previous 12 months.

For an introduction and summary of main findings in this report as a whole, please see the Introduction and key findings.

First time buyers

As with Chapter 2, which discussed the finances of first time buyers, recent first time buyers are those who bought a home for the first time in the last three years and had not previously owned a property. These figures fluctuate year on year due to small sample sizes and should be considered indicative only.

In 2023-24, there were around 975,000 recent first time buyers in England. Of these, 15% were in London and the remaining 85% were in the rest of England.

Compared to 10 years ago, this is an increase from 617,000 first time buyers in 2013-14 and these proportions have also changed, with fewer first time buyers purchasing properties in London now. A quarter (25%) of recent first time buyers lived in London in 2013-14 compared to three quarters (75%) in the rest of England, Annex Table 3.2.

Age

In 2023-24, the average (mean) age of all first time buyers in England was 34 years. In London, the average age of first time buyers was 35 while in the rest of England it was 34 years, Annex Table 3.3 and Figure 3.1.

The average age of first time buyers overall and in the rest of England (excluding London) (34 in 2023-24) has increased compared to 2019-20 when it was 32. Conversely in London, the average age has decreased from 37 five years ago in 2018-19 to 35 in 2023-24, Figure 3.1.   

Figure 3.1: Mean age of first time buyers, London and the rest of England, 2003-04 to 2023-24

^{Base: all recent first time buyers (resident for less than three years)
Notes:
1) underlying data are presented in Annex Table 3.3
Sources:
2003-04 to 2007-08: Survey of English Housing
2008-09 onwards: English Housing Survey, full household sample}

In 2023-24 the majority of first time buyers were aged between 25 and 34 (60%). There was no statistically significant difference for most age groups compared to 2022-23. However, there was an increase in the proportion of first time buyers aged 45 or older compared to 2019-20, rising from 5% to 11%, Annex Table 3.1.

Household type

In 2023-24, almost half of first time buyer households (48%) were couples with no dependent children, 26% were one person households and 21% were couples with dependent children. Multi-person households and lone parents with dependent children made up the smallest proportion of first time buyer households, at 2% and 3% respectively, Annex Table 3.1.

The proportion of first time buyer households with a HRP from an ethnic minority group increased when compared to the pre-pandemic period (2019-20), rising from 15% to 24% in 2023-24. Concurrently, households with a white HRP decreased from 85% to 76% in 2023-24. The proportion of first time buyer households consisting of one person also increased over the same period rising to 26% in 2023-24 from 19% in 2019-20, Annex Table 3.1.

Future buying expectations

In 2023-24, 57% of private renters (2.6 million households) and 25% of social renters (1 million households) said they expected to buy a property at some point in the future. The proportion of private renters who expect to buy has decreased over the last 10 years (it was 61% in 2013-14), however, the proportion of social renters has remained the same, Figure 3.2.

Figure 3.2: Percentage of private and social renters who expect to buy, 2012-13 to 2023-24

^{Base: all renting households
Notes:
1) underlying data are presented in Annex Table 3.4
Source: English Housing Survey, full household sample}

Among private renters who expected to buy in 2023-24, the highest proportion (39%) expected to do so in two to five years, an increase from 35% in 2022-23. Social renters expecting to buy in 2023-24 were more likely to think it would be 5-10 years before they did so (36%) compared to 30% in 2022-23, Annex table 3.4

Length of time in current accommodation and tenure

In 2023-24, the average length of time spent in the respondent’s current home was 13.9 years. By tenure, owner occupiers lived in their current home for the longest, an average of 17.2 years, social renters an average of 12.0 years and private renters 4.6 years, Annex Table 3.6.

Outright owners lived in their property for an average of 23.8 years, longer than owner occupiers buying with a mortgage (9.3 years), and among social renters, local authority tenants (13.5 years) had lived in their homes longer than those in housing association homes (11.1 years). There were no significant differences between 2022-23 and 2023-24 in any of the tenures, Figure 3.3.

Compared to 2018-19 (five years ago), owner occupiers were in their homes for a shorter amount of time (17.2 years now compared with 18.1 years in 2018-19).

Figure 3.3: Average number of years in current home, 2018-19 to 2023-24

^{Base: all households
Notes:
1) underlying data are presented in Annex Table 3.6
Source: English Housing Survey, full household sample}

Household moves

In 2023-24, approximately 1.8 million households moved home in the previous 12 months. Around half of these were moves into or out of private rented dwellings.  In total, 680,000 households moved within tenure (from one privately rented home to another) and 159,000 new households moved into the private rented sector, Figure 3.4.

There was less movement in the social rented and owner occupied sectors. In 2023-24, there were 138,000 households that moved from one social rented property to another, and 28,000 new households moved into the sector.

In the owner occupied sector, 331,000 households moved within the tenure and 121,000 new households were created by moving into the sector. There were 155,000 households that moved into the tenure from the private rented sector, Annex Table 3.7.

Figure 3.4: Household moves, by tenure, 2023-24

^{Base: household reference persons resident less than a year
Notes:
1) underlying data are presented in Annex Tables 1.1 and 3.7
2) a small number of cases with inconsistent responses have been omitted
3) survey cannot identify the number of households which have ended
Source:  English Housing Survey, full household sample}

Underlying Data

For data underlying this report, see the Annex tables. For the charts in this report, see Figures.

Technical notes and glossary

For technical information, please see the technical notes.

For a detailed glossary of terms please see the glossary.