Brexit is ‘detrimental’ to housing market say first-time buyers

Nearly half of homeowners who have recently stepped on the property ladder think Brexit is having a negative impact on the housing market.

That’s according to research by Yorkshire Building Society (BS) which found just 4% of first-time buyers who had recently secured their first property thought exiting the European Union (EU) would be positive for the market.

People planning to buy in the next 12 months were also feeling down about the withdrawal from the EU. According to Yorkshire BS 40% expressed concerns Brexit would have a negative impact on the housing market and only 7% felt positive.

Yet Yorkshire BS said this was in contrast to what was actually happening in the market, pointing out house prices had shown a gradual increase of 5.7% since the EU Referendum in June 2016.

But it was not just Brexit causing recent and aspiring first-time buyers to feel glum, in Yorkshire BS’s First Time Buyers Report which was conducted by YouGov to find out their attitudes and concerns towards buying their home. Those looking to buy in the next year were concerned about underlying housing supply issues.

Two thirds of would-be first-time buyers felt the UK needed more building to satisfy housing needs too.

Long term prospects

Yet despite having all of these immediate concerns, the majority of those people questioned remained certain homeownership was a good long-term financial investment.

Chris Irwin, senior manager at Yorkshire Building Society, said: “The path to homeownership can sometimes be tough going, so it’s perhaps unsurprising that first-time buyers are concerned about both Brexit and the number of homes being built in the UK.

“However, the strong underlying confidence in the housing market, coupled with the belief homeownership is a good investment, suggests these wider economic factors would not fundamentally deter potential first-time buyers from taking their first initial steps on to the housing ladder.”