According to the research by DC Jewellery, the average time for couples buying a property together was 24 months into a relationship.
The research also studied first marriages, first children and divorce statistics in the UK, to determine the average times it took couples to hit various relationship milestones.
The average age for major relationship milestones in the UK
| The average age for: | A firstborn child | First marriage | Divorces |
| Men | 33 | 36 | 44 |
| Women | 29 | 33 | 41 |
The average times it takes couples to hit a major relationship milestone
| Relationship Milestone | Average time for men (months) | Average time for women (months) |
| Meeting parents / Close family | 1 | 1 |
| Saying “I love you” | 3 | 3 |
| Going on holiday together | 6 | 12 |
| Getting engaged | 12 | 12 |
| Moving in together | 12 | 12-24 |
| Buying a home together | 24 | 24 |
Further findings from the study include:
- While couples tended to wait an average of 24 months to buy a property together, women tended to wait longer than men to move in with their partners. 22% of men moved in with partners after a year. For women, the most common time to move in with a partner is between one and two years, with 17% for each.
- Both men and women are waiting longer to tie the knot for the first time, with the average age having risen by 1.7 over the last ten years for men and 1.4 for women.
- The median age at which men in opposite-sex couples divorce has increased by four years over the last decade. However, the opposite is true for same-sex couples, with the median divorce age decreasing by 5.4 years since the introduction of gay marriage. For women in both same-sex and opposite-sex couples, the median divorce age has increased, by 3.7 for opposite and 2.5 for same-sex couples.
- The research also revealed that the average age for the birth of a first child is 33 for men and 29 for women. For both men and women, the average age at which couples have their first child has risen by six months from 2014.
