A soaring number of adults want to move from renting to buying – with the proportion doubling during 2018.
That’s according to a study by AA Financial Services which comes as the Government announced more measures in its October budget to help first-time buyers onto the housing ladder including stamp duty relief for shared ownership home purchases and the extension of the Help to Buy scheme.
The homebuyer research discovered, during the course of this year, the number of adults keen to make their first home purchase rocketed from 24% to 58%.
Meanwhile, the percentage of Brits who owned homes and wanted to move house remained unchanged at 12%.
But what has changed is the amount of money people wanted to spend on their next home purchase with the average being £332,000 – a 9% rise in six months.
Brexit no barrier
David Searle, the AA’s director of financial services, said its research showed the economic uncertainty surrounding Brexit had not dampened people’s plans to move home.
He said: “The simple reason is that, for most people, decisions on when to move are dictated by job change, being closer to family or the needs of children.”
Meanwhile, the research also uncovered evidence that home improvement projects were increasing and the AA said it appeared homeowners would be borrowing a collective £12 billion to do up their homes in the countdown to Christmas.
Most popular locations
Its research also found the most popular places for people to move to were London and the South East. Yet these were also the locations where fewest people wanted to stay.
The South West was the place people wanted to lay down roots, said the AA, and the North East and East Anglia were the places where the fewest wanted to relocate.
Searle added: “Whether people are buying homes in the months ahead, looking for loans to improve them, a savings account to build up that rainy day fund or insurance to protect their belongings, AA Financial Services is there to help homeowners when it matters – and we encourage people to challenge us to help them make their money go further.”
