The housing market is broken at every level with affordability the biggest single issue, research suggests.
The HomeOwners Alliance and BLP Insurance have revealed the main barriers to getting on and moving up the property ladder in its annual home owners survey of 2,000 adults.
The study claims people are either failing to realise their dream of home ownership or are stuck in houses that are unsuitable for their needs as a result of affordability issues and lack of suitable supply.
Three-quarters of non-home owner respondents said they wanted to buy, but 66% said prices were too high, while 58% had trouble saving for a deposit and 31% found it difficult to get a mortgage.
Affordability was also the biggest barrier for second steppers in the 18-54 age bracket, with 58% put off by prices.
In contrast, just 27% of home owners and 24% of first-time buyers blamed the cost of moving, which was the only part of the poll that incorporated estate agents, including agency fees with other charges such as removals and conveyancing.
| Barriers to moving/ owning | % of homeowners who considered a move but have not done so | % Aspiring Homeowners | ||
| Total Homeowners | Homeowners 18-54 | Homeowners 55+ | ||
| Property prices too high/ cannot afford to move | 40% | 58% | 23% | 66% |
| Lack of suitable housing | 35% | 23% | 46% | 23% |
| Moving costs too high (removals, legal fees, estate agent fees etc.) | 27% | 28% | 26% | 24% |
| Stress/ upheaval of moving | 26% | 25% | 28% | 9% |
| Current home meets needs | 21% | 16% | 26% | 18% |
| Stamp duty is too expensive | 19% | 24% | 14% | 11% |
| Do not want to move away from friends/ neighbours/ community | 16% | 10% | 23% | 8% |
| Concern about any impact Brexit could have on the housing market | 11% | 13% | 10% | 10% |
| Difficult to increase value of current mortgage | 10% | 18% | 2% | – |
| Difficult to get a new mortgage | 9% | 12% | 5% | 31% |
| Can’t save enough for a deposit | 6% | 12% | 1% | 58% |
| Other | 20% | 19% | 21% | 15% |
| Don’t Know | 1% | 1% | 1% | 3% |
Issues were also raised by last-time buyers, those aged over 55, with 46% complaining of a lack of suitable housing to move to.
Paula Higgins, chief executive of the Homeowners Alliance, said: “These figures show the true scale – and indeed, the breadth – of the problems facing the housing market. Buyers and sellers at every single level are being met with problems and it’s clear that tinkering with just one area will not solve this crisis.
“The housing market is broken at every level. A massive 74% of people want to own their own homes, yet millions face the realisation that might never happen.”
Kim Vernau, chief executive of BLP Insurance, said: “A comprehensively integrated approach is needed to cure the ills of the housing market.
“Government policies such as the abolition of Stamp Duty for first-time buyers may have created positive headlines but it ignores the needs of large swathes of potential buyers. By recognising the interconnected nature of the housing market and implementing policies that will positively affect all, real progress can be made.
“One of the biggest challenges facing the sector is incentivising elderly individuals living in large, former family homes to downsize. Constructing an adequate stock of purposely-built homes for last time buyers, that meets their specific needs, has the potential to free up housing stock for first- and second-time buyers and inject much-needed impetus into the whole market.”
“Constructing an adequate stock of purposely-built homes for last time buyers” … So the brains of the estate agents bashing alliance think that building more retirement flats is the answer?
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Presumably Ms Vernau is leading by example and lives in a suitably sized flat in one of the HWR enclaves between Eastbourne and Budleigh Salterton.
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Whilst I accept it is a solution of sorts, why should elderly individuals have to move out of a home which they may have lived in for many years, building memories and which may have significant sentimental value in when many of them are more than able (and capable) enough to maintain the property and live a fulfilled and healthy life there.
It feels inappropriate that there should be an expectation that they should be vacating to make room for others; nature dictates at some point they will ‘vacate’ at which point the property will become vacant again, or more likely, bequeathed to family members who will make use of it.
People are living longer and longer so it does figure that there will be a higher proportion of housing occupied by those of an advanced age, however in my opinion the answer isn’t to expect them to move.
For info, I am a homeowner looking to move at some point in the not too distant future, and for me the barrier is the change in mortgage affordability rules creating a situation where on paper the banks tell me I can’t obtain a cheaper mortgage on a new property than the one I’m already paying on my current home due to affordability…now that’s crazy!
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You think that’s mad I can only have a mortgage for less than I have got in my bank account due to affordability The reason mortgages are assessed on what money one pays tax on!
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