The average adult in the UK would be willing to pay more than £335,000 for their forever home, a new study has found, and when they find it they want to stay there for life.

Those getting on the housing ladder for the first time want a two bedroom semi-detached home but they intend to end up living in a three bedroom house where they would stay for the rest of their lives.

For those currently in what they describe as their forever home, they spent an average of almost 10 years saving up to get the cash together to buy it, according to a poll commissioned by home specialist Swinton Insurance.

And while two in five believe a house becomes a forever home based on the amount of memories made there, some 53% think it’s all down to it being in the perfect location.

It also found the average home owner believes they will have owned three properties by the time they reach the age of 65 and although around one in 10 reckon they will work their way through at least four other properties before settling down.

This is after getting their foot on the property ladder at the age of 28, in a home worth an average of £132,563 while one in six first time buyers in the UK bought a flat or apartment, some 35% went on to move into a semi-detached house. And after moving into their first place, home owners stay an average of five years in it before moving to the next property.

The survey, carried out via OnePoll, also found that a third of adults had difficulty taking their first step onto the property ladder, with the majority struggling to make enough money and one in 10 said that a house they really liked ended up selling for a higher price than they could afford.

As a result, two in five believe it’s harder for first time buyers to get on the property ladder now than it was 20 years ago.

The poll gives an indication of priorities and found that 43% of those aged under 45 prioritise sorting out their wifi access over sorting their home security and insuring their contents when they move into a new home.

‘Everyone has dreams of what their forever home could look like or include. As we get older our families change, and our requirements in a home fluctuate, we need enough space for all of our kids to grow, but once they make their own way that space could be wasted,’ said Angela Bowden from Swinton Insurance.