New research has revealed the full extent of the effect that rising house prices are having on the mindset of young adults looking to buy property within the UK.
Despite a pick-up in supply for only the third time in 18 months, the latest Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) UK Residential Market Survey says that a surge in demand from buy to let investors is pushing UK house prices even higher.
74% of respondents said that they expect there to be an increase of purchases by buy-to-let investors ahead of the 3% Stamp Duty surcharge* due to come into effect in April.
This comes alongside new research data from the Consilium Strategic Land Fund that suggests one in four people believe that they will not be able to afford to buy their own home until they are at least 35.
A further 12% believe that they will not be able to do this until they are over 40, and 6% of those living at home with their parents do not think that they will ever be able to afford to buy a home.
Looking at the distance that those who have purchased UK property in the last five years have had to move in order to do so, one in 20 first-time buyers said that they had to move 100 miles away and 47,000 had to move over 500 miles, with an average relocation distance of up to 17.8 miles.
Around 798,000 people believe that they will have to move over 100 miles and 281,000 expect to move more than 300 miles away from where they currently live in order to get on the property ladder; a further 422,000 people think that they will have to move abroad in order to do this.
Joanne Luce, director of the Consilium Strategic Land Fund commented: “These findings are shocking. People should not have to resort to moving hundreds of miles away in order to get on to the property ladder.
“The ramifications of not being able to buy their first home are not just affecting those eager to do this but also their families.”
This data comes from the Consilium Strategic Land Fund, which interviewed 1,076 adults in October 2015, offering a representative impression of the UK population prior to recent announcements that property sales have risen over the month of January 2016 at the fastest pace since April 2014.
