Why does the UK law say that you can move out of home at 16 but you can't rent/buy a house until 18.?

If you have the money to buy a house at 16 there are ways round it - like getting a solicitor to act as trustee until you are adult. The problem is that until you are legally an adult you cannot sign a valid contract - so if you did make a house purchase the contract would not be legal.

UK law doesn't say that. Like a lot of things it depends where you are in the UK. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland you can't own property until you are eighteen, but in Scotland you can own property at any age and buy and sell property from the age of 16 without parental consent, however special provisions apply to any transactions made between the ages of 16 and 18.

We recognise that people do not "fully mature" from one day to the next -- so their full citizen's rights , generally , accrue between the ages of 16 and 18.

And as someone else asked , we would all like to know how a 16 year old --someone who hasn't had the chance to work gainfully -- could afford to buy a house anyway .

Common sense.

can you really buy a house and keep it ?