The mortgage-holders of tomorrow are out of touch with reality when it comes to house-buying expectations, a new report claims.

Around 83 per cent of teenagers believe that they will become homeowners when they are older, yet 5.8 million British adults say that they cannot afford to get onto the property ladder, the research from IFA Promotions shows.

While more than half of the teenagers surveyed thought that they would buy their first property when they were between 23 and 27 years old, the average age of a first-time buyer is in fact 34.

Only 21 per cent of young people acknowledged that buying a house would be a financial burden, despite 40 per cent of parents being unable to afford to help their children onto the property ladder.

Karen Barrett of IFA Promotion said that the results were a sign that young people needed more advice about mortgages and property buying.

"The British obsession with owning your own home clearly starts young but the unrealistic expectations are coupled with a shocking lack of knowledge about the home buying process. 80% know nothing, or little, about buying a property or mortgages," she said.

Almost a third (29 per cent) of teenagers thought that their first property would be a house with a garden

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