Of course it shouldn't mean you are a failure if you don't own property/have a mortgage by say the age of 35 but some people will see you as being one.
So it comes down to whether you determine whether or not you are a failure by other people's values.
To some extent once a lot of people finally get their own home they seem to think that's it. They've 'succeeded'. They can rest easy.
Better to be paying rent and still have some 'edge' I think. Unless you want a family.........
So far as London is concerned ,I have to agree with the other posters. Buying a £550,000 bog standard semi to live in an overcrowded,not very clean area is seemingly madness.
Yet it's the dream of so many people. Thus prices continue to rise. Thus making more people chase the dream since the rise in value alone can be more than they earn after tax.