21% of Brits believe they need to own a house to become proper adults

More than one in five (21%) Brits believe that they need to own a house or flat beforethe consider themselves to beadults, Nottingham Building Society has revealed.

About a third (33%) said they don’t feel like a ‘proper adult’ because of not being good at managing money and 33% said it’s because of having no savings.

Jenna McKenzie-Day, senior savings manager at The Nottingham, said: “The survey data has given an interesting insight into British attitudes towards saving and how having control of your finances is such a big part of feeling like a true ‘adult’.

“There really is no age limit on starting your savings journey, and there are a few simple steps you can take to start effectively managing your money, such as tracking your spending habits through an app, or setting up a budget spreadsheet to see how much you can realistically save each month.

“For long-term saving plans like buying a house and retirement, a Lifetime ISA can be really valuable, and a great product to help you on your savings journey.

“In our recent survey, over half of the savers questioned were unaware of the LISA and the 25% bonus on offer. If you start saving early enough, you can earn as much as £32,000 in bonuses from the government, so that feeling of being an adult - may be more within reach than people realise.”

When it comes to current saving priorities, a retirement fund was the most important to people despite just 29% of Brits currently actively saving towards it. A ‘rainy day’ fund was deemed the second-biggest priority, followed by a house deposit.

While nearly three in five (59%) of the 2,000 Brits surveyed said they felt like a ‘proper adult’ before the age of 30, a quarter (25%) believed they wouldn’t do so until age 60 or over.

The main reasons for not feeling like a ‘proper adult’ include avoiding serious responsibilities (50%), relying on parents for support (48%) and still just having fun (35%).