There are substantive forces driving the UK property market. Leading national estate agent Strutt &Parker has released the results from its latest Housing Futures survey, which identifies five of these key shifts currently taking place.
By collating answers from 2,000 respondents from across the UK, the results give a valuable insight into the almost invisible ‘creeping’ trends affecting the country’s housing industry today:
1. Living alone – This is becoming more common. Of the 43% of respondents who stated they were currently single and planning to move in the next five years, 75% anticipated staying in a single-person household.
2.Long-term renters – Generation Y (those born between 1978 and 1995) are living in private rented accommodation for longer. Of those aged 18-29, 45% said that they would consider living in a professionally managed private rental unit.
3.Impact of technology – Future housing types and location decisions are being altered by access to technology. Nearly 36% of the respondents who were intending to move listed broadband connectivity as important or very important in their motivations for moving and nearly 20% listed mobile coverage.
4.The changing family – Alternative family structures are becoming more common. Fifteen per cent of our respondents who intend to move are anticipating living like ‘The Waltons’ (multiple generations under one roof), compared with 10% in our previous survey.
5.Retaining housing equity – One might have expected to see a high percentage of baby-boomers selling property to raise capital for pensions and their children’s housing needs. However, we found only 9% of those aged 40-59 and 0.4% of those aged 60 or older, rated financial support for children/relatives as important or very important (when asked about motivations for moving and 8% and 16% respectively for pension support/top-up).
The respondents came from across the UK with a balanced gender split. Approximately 57% of the respondents were either employed or self-employed, with a further 24% retired. Almost 55% of the overall respondents intended to move within the next five years.
Stephanie McMahon, Head of Research at Strutt & Parker, comments: “Our creeping trends identify that single occupied households and alternative family households are growing, the younger generation is more open to the idea of renting and those moving into retirement are seeking more interactive environments. The impact of these trends inevitably means that in the future the homes we plan, design, build and live in must be different.
“Lifestyle change remained the dominant motivation for moving, but in light of pension challenges and parents seeking to help their children on to the housing ladder, we were surprised to see that so few respondents ranked release of equity, pension top-up and financial support for relatives as their reasons for moving home.”
The Housing Futures survey results also showed that people were living in their homes for longer. Nearly half of the 2,000 respondents had lived in their home for more than 10 years. 13.9% had lived in their home for 20 to 29 years and 8.2% of those surveyed had lived in their home for 30+ years.
The respondents came from across the UK with a balanced gender split. Almost 55% of the overall respondents intended to move within the next five years.
To download the full report, ‘Housing Futures: Key trends shaping the residential market’, please visit: www.struttandparker.com/housingfutures
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