PROPERTY BUYING AND OWNERSHIP TRENDS IN THE UK House Tree Provident House, Burrell Row Beckenham, BR3 1AT + 0207 0604674
Property Buying and Ownership Trends in the UK The housing market is a significant part of the UK economy. The demand for mortgages has increased, so has the number of lenders and property listing sites. Buying a house is among the biggest investments people in the UK make in their lifetime. This makes the average mortgage rate three times the size of a homebuyer’s income. In fact, the first quarter of 2014 alone had a total value of £1,281 billion in outstanding mortgages. The UK Housing Market The latest data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that UK house prices increased by 8% in a year. This may be good news to homebuyers, as the increase slowed down compared to the 9.2% of the previous years. Even with the increase, the overall housing market is still down to 3% from its 2007 peak where homeownership reached up to 71%. In terms of property construction, the number of houses built in the UK dropped by 35% between 2007 and 2012. As of June 2013, contractors have only built 106,820 residential properties.
Homeownership in the UK There are 26.4 million households in the UK as of 2012 and the ONS expressed that this figure is likely to increase. The government predicts that home ownership in the UK will increase up to 28 million by 2016. The most common type of household in England—about 7.9 million properties—is a two-person home. About 449,000 UK households, on the other hand, have six or more occupants. Property prices in London hardly ever change, however. The Nationwide House Price Index 2013 reported that the average price of a London property is £318,214. This is three times more costly than the most inexpensive region in the UK—Northern Ireland—where property prices are about £108,116. Given the importance of homeownership to the UK economy, it will not be a surprise that there will be more lenders, estate agents and propsting sites in the future.
SOURCES: http://www.bbc.com/news/business-27484221 http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/dcp171766_373513.pdf https://www.housetree.co.uk/