Financial worries dominate the thinking of today’s generation of prospective home buyers.
A new report and survey from the House Builders Federation (HBF) highlights the change in attitudes to home buying between young and old.
‘Why Buy New? Home Buyer Intentions and Opinions‘ shows that whilst 84% of 18-34 years olds still want to own their own home, there are huge financial obstacles to realising their dreams. 73% cited the difficulty of saving for a deposit; 69% property prices; and 53% the difficulty of getting a mortgage.
One in four 18 – 34 year olds are totally unaware of any government support available to them, such as the 5% deposit ‘Help to Buy equity loan’ scheme or the Help to Buy ISA aimed at helping young people save for a deposit.
The survey also shows that younger people today are more concerned than their elders about the running costs of homes with 67% of 18-24 year olds taking this into account when considering whether to buy compared to 40% of 35-44 year olds. Younger people are also much more likely to consider buying a new build, which are up to 50% cheaper to run than some second hand homes – with 55% saying it is likely they would consider buying a new build compared to just 23% of over 45s.
The report by the Home Builders Federation (HBF) followed a YouGov survey of over 2,000 people.
New Homes Week
The research was published to launch New Homes Week 2016, an industry-backed initiative aimed at addressing some of the misconceptions about new build homes. With 34% of people polled saying they have never visited a new build or a show home and a further 18% saying they hadn’t for at least 10 years, the industry faces a huge challenge engaging with the public to explain the many benefits of today’s modern, high quality new build homes.
HBF executive chairman Stewart Baseley said: “New build homes have so many great benefits, from the high build quality and brand new fixtures and fittings, to the low running costs and added bonus of a 10 year warranty. But the real benefit for many first time buyers is the affordability of the whole process.
“Schemes like Help to Buy really make home ownership an option for many who it would otherwise be an impossible dream. And once in a new build, everyday living in terms of running costs, bills and not needing to spend thousands on upgrades mean people can enjoy living in their new home and not have to scrape by.
“We really hope that New Homes Week 2016 will help to promote new build homes to a brand new audience and open people’s eyes to the many reasons why they should buy new. We are urging people not to be put off by dated misconceptions, but to go and actually visit a new build home and see what is actually available.”
Bourne-based housebuilder Larkfleet Homes is one company backing ‘New Homes Week’. Larkfleet CEO Karl Hick said: “We are delighted to support this campaign. The benefits of purchasing a new home are wide reaching and financially significant. We currently have a number of new sites becoming available and these will be catering for the first time buyer, those with a growing family and those wishing to downsize.”
New Homes Week 2016 is running from Monday 16th May until Sunday 22nd May. To find out more, go to www.new-homes.co.uk/new-homes-week , or search for the hashtag #NHW16 across social media.
