Women getting on property ladder at younger age than men, bank’s figures suggest

Women are getting on the property ladder at a slightly younger age than men, according to figures from Barclays.

The bank said that it helped nearly a third (31%) more first-time buyers obtain a mortgage in 2019 than the year before.

It found that women are typically getting on the property ladder earlier than men, with the average age of female first-time buyers sitting at 31, compared to men at 32.

Barclays also said that the average age of the first-time buyers it dealt with generally edged down last year, enabling millennials to buy a home sooner.

There was also an upswing in first-time buyers using schemes such as shared ownership and Help to Buy to buy a property, Barclays said.

The bank saw spikes in mortgage completions in January, October and December last year.