I think drauk is right on the mark.
One thing, not exactly on the topic, is that this is a hobby where some financial commitment is a good idea. When one gets one's PPL, one is standing on the edge of an abyss. One has received the official flight training and passed the skills test, but the training isn't enough to allow you to confidently fly from A to B. It never will be because the system is driven by the flight training business which is just that.... a business! They don't get extra money if the graduate finds it useful or fun. So, the PPL scene doesn't have a "support system" for new pilots, which I am sure is a very big reason why so many chuck it in right away.
A big part of the problem is the very poor quality aircraft which is generally available for hire. While many would rapidly point out that they think it is perfectly OK to climb into some piece of wreckage, the fact is that pilot forums are packed with people who will climb into anything that gets off the ground, but most people don't exactly like it. I really hated flying that 30 year old knackered crap, but I accepted it as a temporary situation which would last only a year or so. Passengers like the old wreckage far far less than most pilots would imagine (ever wondered why, after 1 flight, somebody politely turns down your offer of a free flight somewhere?)
Very early on, I started looking around to see what I could get into, to fly after the PPL and also to do the IMC Rating in.
Immediately I encountered a lot of negativity, and some downright crookery. Obviously, a student will tend to ask the people he trusts: instructors. Unfortunately, unless you can get one quietly on your side and he knows what he is talking about, he will be grinding an axe for the school he works in. Or for a mate who owns a share which he wants to dispose of. That was when I first realised that just about everybody one stumbles across working in GA cannot be taken at face value. Almost nobody employed in UK GA is making so much money they can afford to be charitable.
The negativity posted throughout this thread is entirely correct for the specific situation. These leasebacks are a mug's game. However, a lot of people are also very negative about a new PPL buying an aircraft in general, and I think this is much less of a clear cut case. While many people doing their PPLs don't have a clue what sort of flying they want to do (just as, utterly inexplicably to me, the majority of people I encountered on my engineering degree at univ had no idea what they wanted to do in life) there are many who have a reasonable idea regarding their flying objectives, and there is no reason why they should not buy something early on.
The result will be excellent access, with a very low marginal (hourly) cost, which encourages currency. And currency is what it is all about. Lose your currency and you are well down the road to chucking it in. Also currency = safety.
The easiest cases are where the pilot wants to go places, or wants to do aeros.
For touring, your budget directly determines the aircraft capability.
Aeros I know next to nothing about but clearly one can buy some nice stuff to play with.