THE average home owner in the North-East could become debt free by the age of 57 - compared to 77 in London, a study has revealed.

For people in the region tend to buy homes earlier in life, pay cheaper property prices, and take on less debt.

Meanwhile, households in the capital will not become debt free until 20 years later, the report by economics consultancy the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) found.

Although Londoners tend to have bigger incomes, they also typically take on bigger debts and get on the property ladder later in life.

Home owners in Wales can expect to be debt-free by the age of 56, while in Scotland its 58-years-old.

The report found that the average Briton can expect to become debt-free at the age of 69 - 12 years later than they hope to.

People typically expect to be clear of their debts - including mortgages - by the time they are 57 but in reality, they are likely to have hit their 69th birthday before they have paid off all their loans, according to the research - which compared people's expectations in a survey of more than 2,000 people with Office for National Statistics (ONS) data covering actual debts held by households.

People reaching adulthood now are likely to have an even longer wait to reach their "debt-free birthday", the research, commissioned by peer-to-peer lender Zopa found.

Someone aged between 16 and 24 years old now could be aged 74 by the time they can celebrate becoming debt-free - as rising property prices lead to bigger mortgage debts.

And someone aged between 25 and 34 years old now could be aged 71 by the time they are free of home loans and other debts.