BLP Insurance, reveals that there is still a lack of housing across the board and not just for first- time buyers.
The state of the nation report covers the concerns and issues faced by UK Homeowners and the general feeling amongst homeowners and non -homeowners of the state of the housing market today.
The desire to be a homeowner continues to rise across the country; however so too are concerns amongst so called ‘last time’ buyers with regard to the availability and quality of relevant housing for this sector.
Over 500,000 ‘last time buyers’ cannot move due to lack of suitable housing.
This survey revealed that more than half a million homeowners aged 55+ struggle to move on and out of their now under – occupied homes. These are often large family homes, which will be suitable for a younger and growing family. The problem, and an exacerbation to the current housing crisis, is that the desired ‘down-sizing’ property is simply considered unsuitable. There are an estimated 11.4 million homeowners who are in this age bracket, of which 19% (one in five) have considered a home move within the past two years, however the move did not happen.
This equates to more than 2 million homeowners who have not moved when they wanted to, 23% of which cited the lack of suitable housing being the main reason they stayed put.
Kim Vernau, CEO, BLP Insurance states: “The issues highlighted by this survey that face last time buyers are as acute as those issues encountered by first time buyers. If we wish to provide the required quality of housing that addresses these concerns, we desperately need an appropriate mix of well-designed homes alongside adequate local infrastructure to help address the current housing shortage.”
Other reasons for the last time buyer included the stress and upheaval of moving later in life; with 30% of homeowners in the 55+ age bracket finding moving home more stressful and a difficult hurdle to overcome as they would be moving away potentially from friends and communities they have lived within for years.
Property prices were less of a barrier, which is of course converse to the issues faced by the first time buyer, with only 22% of homeowners declaring that this was prohibitive to a move for them.
New builds not necessarily the answer for the last time buyer:
Last time buyers were found to be ‘put off’ from buying new build homes because they do not meet their needs. The older homebuyer sees new builds as being ‘strong’ on low running costs (52%), but less likely to deliver on the spaciousness of rooms (23%), the availability of green space (23%) and the perception of the new build home is that it is less likely to be near amenities and transport links.
