Brits don’t feel they’ve reached adulthood until they’ve made these 10 home purchases

How many do you already have?

Traditionally reaching adulthood involves hitting several key milestones, and that can be anything from passing your driver's licence right through to buying your first home.

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And now new research has revealed that when it comes to the latter, our starter pads don't feel like 'grown-up' properties until we have made 10 important home purchases.

The survey of 1,124 UK adults carried out by household appliances e-tailer Appliances Direct first revealed that the majority of those questioned only feel like an adult at aged 31, a full 13 years past the technical age of adulthood at 18.

It also asked respondents which purchase they feel defined them as an adult, and the range of purchases varied widely in both in terms of price difference and whether they could actually be considered as 'essential' home buys.

The top ten were as follows:

1. A house (73 per cent)

exterior with white wall and red door with plants

(Image credit: future PLC/Oliver Gordon)

2. A car (41 per cent)

3. Washing machine (36 per cent)

white wall with wooden flooring and washing machine with cabinet

(Image credit: future PLC/Colin Poole)

4. Dishwasher (34 per cent)

5. Coffee machine (32 per cent)

white wall with coffee machine and flower vase

(Image credit: future PLC/Claire Lloyd Davies)

6. Lawnmower (31 per cent)

7. Iron (28 per cent)

iron with ironing board and cloths

(Image credit: future PLC/Alun Callendar)

8. Vacuum cleaner (22 per cent)

9. TV Licence (18 per cent)

wallpaper on wall with tv and white flooring with lamp

(Image credit: future PLC/Dominic Blackmore)

10. Oven (15 per cent)

Commenting on the findings, Mark Kelly, marketing manager at Appliances Direct said: 'Becoming a homeowner is an exciting time for anyone and in most cases, is the biggest purchase anyone will ever make.

'As our research has revealed, many Brits feel the purchase of their first home is a defining marker of adulthood, though I was surprised to see that some of the more regular household items such as coffee machines and irons to have been chosen by those surveyed.'

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Do the research findings ring true for you?