People are moving home half as often as they did before the crash, the BBC has reported in a national news item.
Based on research by Savills, the BBC yesterday evening reported that before 2008, home owners used to move 3.6 times in their lifetime after their first purchase.
Now, it is 1.8 times, with home owners blaming high costs of moving including Stamp Duty, and the shortage of homes to buy.
As removals firms compete for business, there is a boom in home extensions as parents try to create more space for their families.
The BBC news package featured a family doing a loft and side extension, saying: “We spent endless hours on Rightmove but just couldn’t find what we wanted in the area that wanted that we could afford.”
The BBC’s Simon Gompertz also interviewed a Manchester estate agent, Peter Barlow, who said he was surprised that some agents had survived.
He said that when older people in large houses wanted to downsize, “They want a bungalow and they just aren’t available any more”.
According to the BBC/Savills research, the most frequent movers are in: Wandsworth, Basingstoke and Deane, Norwich, Rushmoor, Lambeth, Corby, Swindon, Aylesbury Vale, south Norfolk, Bracknell Forest.
Least frequent movers are in: Pembrokeshire, Harrow, Ceredigion, Blaenauwent, Brent, Wolverhampton, Isle of Anglesey, Sefton, Newham, Redbridge.
Separately, Marc Shoffman writes:
Estate agents are backing a new bedroom as the highest value home improvement as owners look to improve rather than move.
A poll of more than 2,000 home owners found that 15% have chosen to renovate their property rather than move, due to the high costs.
A quarter of all the home owners cited high property prices for reasons to stay put, while 13% said Stamp Duty was a problem and others were concerned about the sluggish property market and Brexit.
The report also polled 100 estate agents, including Savills, to get an idea of the home improvements that add the most value.
The biggest potential hikes in valuation come from creating a new bedroom with an extension, where estate agents say the average home’s value could increase by 11.2%. A renovated kitchen will typically add 5.5%, while extensions that add a new kitchen-diner boost a home’s value by 10.8%.
Phil Thorn, head of direct home insurance at Hiscox UK which did the poll, said: “The decision to improve instead of move is the new normal.”
Comments (10)
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I’d be mightily surprised if I’m the only one to wonder this – but as no-one has commented I’d better be the gobby one.
How have we gone from a nation who moved home almost five times on average, to one that doesn’t move three times, in the space of only ten years?
Someone didn’t do the maths – which would seem to me like a pretty important part of such ‘research’…
Maybe rightmove has compounded the issue. In old days people would speak to an agent first , use no sale no fee to sell and then hopefully find somewhere. Now we have a chicken and egg issue where no one takes the risk.
I can’t see how spending £60k on an extension and dealing with terrible building industry is cheaper then moving though.
Also in 2008 rightmove were charging £300 . So now we have 50% less property but they have increased fees by 400%. They have also allowed new homes on site to completely distort prices and devalue the impact of our new instructions.
Depends where you are. The jump from a three bed semi to a 4 bed detached plus stamp duty in my patch is in excess of £300k. Get a loft conversion and a kitchen extension and stay in a semi a lot cheaper.
Bless You.
Sorry about the unsolicited approach. You obviously like many other have concerns over RM fees.
Can I suggest you speak to Robert May. He is very active on Twitter.
Might be worth looking at what he is doing.
I think it’s the best option for estate agents to help reduce portal fees.
For what it’s worth I can vouch for him and his team.
thanks smile pease.. i am merely a fish running with the shoal… that shoal just got eaten up by a another shark ..onthe market.
whats his handle on twitter , quite a few robert mays
Thanks Smile! @rummage4_search
Odd that the BBC article doesn’t seem to mention SDLT once?
Why would they talk about crabs in a property piece?