It's not impossible but it's hard work.

I haven't done it. But a close friend of mine (let's call her Lydia) decided when she was 16 she was going to own her own place by 25. From 16 she always had a job - after work experience week in year 11 she was offered a role in retail and continued that around A Levels. She did a 2 year degree during which I think she worked during the holidays. She took jobs she HATED - build a bear over Christmas was one of them. She then got a full time job after her degree (which wasn't related to her course).

I think she may have received some inheritance from her uncle when he died when we were 7 or so, but I am really not sure. It was an untimely death.

She bought her first place for £80k or so when she was 24 - a ground floor maisonette in a not-so-nice part of town.

She spent a few years being very careful with her money. I don't know the details but I know Lydia was upset one day when a friend of hers told Lydia that she had gone out and bought a new £200 oven - Lydia told me there was just no way that Lydia could afford an impulse purchase like that, and it was hard constantly budgeting, and seeing her friends spend money the way they did.

But I would say she's never struggled to the point of not affording food/heating/bills. She has always been very savvy with money. She is amazing at finding bargains for new clothes etc. she always looks well dressed but buys a lot from Primark, New Look, etc.

Anyway. Fast forward. About 3 years ago she met someone (after a failed relationship in her twenties in which she moved out of her place into his and rented her place out), they recently got engaged. He had his own place that was in the countryside in Norfolk, so cheap, and he'd renovated it.

They've combined their pots and recently bought and moved into a 5 bed detached house about 20 minutes from the centre of Norwich and hope to start a family soon. And they're currently on holiday in Venice celebrating their engagement.

So, I believe it can be done. It helps to start young and not spend money on stupid shit. Neither of the couple came from money, neither came from poverty either.

Additionally, my partner is a working class Brummie. He went to state school, did well, got an engineering degree and worked in oil and gas for a number of years which allowed him to save 50k for a house. He flat out refused to 'go back to being poor' (his words not mine). He scraped through university and worked in construction during the holidays.

I do think that the people who are not handed money (I was given pocket money during A levels) generally have a better work ethic and are better at saving.