Industry analyst Brian Green and ISER Research Fellow Dr Birgitta Rabe have studied findings from Understanding Society, the UK’s biggest household survey, to examine predictions of the nation’s future house-buying behaviour.
The report, published in Housing Market Intelligence in partnership with NHBC, finds that while Britain is fast becoming a nation of renters rather than home-owners, Understanding Society reveals over a third of homeowners would like to move house but don’t.
The insights available from Understanding Society – recording the experiences of over 40,000 households year on year – enable industry experts to plan for trends and behaviour patterns for the future.
Looking at survey responses in 2009-2010 researchers found almost half of 25-34 year olds said they wanted to move and 20 per cent of that group managed to within the year. However, the willingness to move was different over generations – particularly amongst Britain’s growing older population. Over a quarter of the UK’s 22 million households are headed by pensioners. These retired households were found to be less keen to move – only 22per cent wanted to move and only seven per cent actually moved within a year.
The report concludes that despite the growing number of older people who own their home outright “as things stand they are far less likely to move home than most other groups. This will mean fewer homes up for sale and fewer potential buyers. This in turn will put a further drag on the sale of new homes in the market.”