@spinandspaghetti I am going to go against the grain here. I've been your partner and said those types of things.
First of all I was hiding debt. It took me a while to be up front about it and when it came to discussing deposits etc, I ducked out and said it's better if they go it alone. It would have made me even more uncomfortable if their parents would have contributed. Being a minority owner would have made me feel like I am living in my partner's house, I am their dependant, and not really my own person. I suspect for a man it's even harder to accept.
Secondly I have had financial blunders in the past and am not amazing with money (though not disastrous either). I like to splash out sometimes. I want to have the freedom to take risks and only let myself down if anything goes south. I am uncomfortable having the person that I love depend on me, and have our credit scores tied etc. Having financial responsibility like that towards my partner scares me. That's a me-issue, but mostly comes from a place of love. He was the high earner with the perfect credit score and I did not want any risks I took to affect him, but I also wanted him to get what he wanted (home ownership) and helped him along the way.
Equally i wanted to have the freedom to work elsewhere in the world, up sticks quite easily, be career-driven, and tied to a location and mortgage never really appealed to me, it was too 'tied down' for my personality and the age I was at.
He may be hiding something about his financial situation, but mostly, he has told you where he stands. You will get what you want. He probably thinks some of the things he would say if you chatted about it more would make you feel uncomfortable and you'd take them the wrong way, e.g. possibly a need for freedom, flexibility.
What I will do in the future when I, too, have the perfect credit score, and savings, is suggest to buy into my partner's home, taking advantage of some first time buyer benefits, and hopefully make him near mortgage free at that point. But it has to be on my own terms.
While what he says is not what you want to hear, he has told you what he thinks.
If your bloke is early 30s, he may not be quite ready to settle yet. He may need a few more years of hard work, taking chances and living life outside the relationship before he is. You can't force or influence someone to committ to something as big as a house, a kid, or even a dog, if they are not fully on board. It'll only end in tears if they go along. They need to want it as much as you from the inside, not be influenced from the outside.