After talking to my British FI and friends, I've realized there's a big gap between Americans and Brits when it comes to buying a home. It seems like everyone in the UK is very eager to get on the property ladder as soon as possible, even if it means buying a home with a partner or a friend. (FI has been asked several times to go in on a house together with his friends).
I find this such a contrast to the attitude in (my corner of) America. I'm nearly 29, probably upper middle class. All of my friends have good paying corporate jobs and plenty of savings. And I only know one unmarried person who owns a home. And that person bought his home because he had the money on hand and needed to move far away for a job, so if you're going to uproot yourself, why not buy instead of rent.
It's just not really top of mind here. I suppose you would do it if you were incredibly wealthy and had the money lying around, but for most part all my friends could afford a house, but just choose to rent. The attitude I usually see is that it's something you do after you're engaged, in preparation for marriage. Recently, my cousin in his mid 30s got married. He works in the banking industry and is very highly paid. But he didn't buy his first home until a few weeks before his wedding.
I was always brought up being well aware of the legal aspects of marriage, and told to never mix my finances with someone unless there was a legal agreement in place. I also knew that as an unmarried partner, I had no rights to any of my partner's assets so if he bought a home and then we broke up, I would be screwed. My father always told me "if you're not married you're single" because that's what the government sees you as. Although we are, as a culture, very legalistic and having divide up assets with a partner, married or not, would be brutal I imagine. I've heard that mortgage lenders give more favorable rates to engaged and married couples as they believe they're more likely to stay together, and thus be able to pay off the mortgage. Not sure how accurate this is or if it's the same in the UK.
I'm curious, why do you think the approaches to home buying are so different?