There are 28.4m households in Britain, of which 17,693,200 are owned, worth a total of £5,127,807,837,600 (£5.1 trillion). When you add all the private rented homes and council houses, that figure reaches just over £8.5 trillion!
𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘁𝘀𝗶𝘅𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀, 𝟳𝟲,𝟲𝟲𝟵𝗨𝗞𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲𝘀𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵, 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗕𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝟭𝟲𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗱𝟳𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀.
This data disproves a standard theory that British neighbourhoods are becoming more fleeting and transitory. On the face of it, they show that once you have bought a property you can call home, there isn’t much motivation to move again.
So, are fewer people moving home?
Could it be attributed to a sense of contentment or indifference to moving home?
While we might love our home in Warrington, most of you (including myself) still want to ‘better ourselves’ with a bigger house, better area, etc, which typically requires us to climb the Warrington property ladder.
𝗬𝗲𝘁, 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗪𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗯𝘆𝟯𝟬𝟯% 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲𝟭𝟵𝟵𝟱, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗳𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗻𝗴𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗪𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗵𝗶𝗯𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲.
Everyone remembers the 1980s when we had a buoyant booming property market as a backcloth; British homeowners moved home every eight or nine years; so now, with the average at just over 16 years, this means each British homeowner moving around two or three times in their adult homeownership lifetime. Maybe we should all rename our homes ‘Dun-Roamin’! Or does it?
We have all heard the phrase, “lies, damn lies and statistics”.
The statistics mentioned above conceal some astounding features of the British property market. When British homeowners enter their late 50s and early 60s, their inclination to move home drops tremendously. The average length of time a homeowner without a mortgage moves home is 23 years and 3 months (and around seven out of ten outright homeowners, i.e. without a mortgage, are 65 years old or older).
𝗬𝗲𝘁, 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀 (𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲) 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝟵𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗱𝟭𝟭𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀.
So, whilst I cannot determine who has a mortgage and who doesn’t, I can look at how quickly people move home in Warrington. I have looked at the last 40 property sales in Warrington and found some interesting findings.
𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝟭𝟯 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝟭𝟰 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸𝘀.
Remember, the UK average is every 16 years and 7 months. Yet it gets fascinating when we delve deeper into that stat.
There seems to be a two-speed (even three-speed) Warrington property market (remember in the title I said 4 years and 20 weeks).
To start, having looked at the last 40 Warrington property sales I then put them in order of how long they had been in that home before they moved, with the fastest first and slowest at the end.
When we look at the 25% quickest home movers in Warrington (i.e. 1st to 10th) and then the next slice (the 11th to 20th quickest movers) … these Warrington home movers are moving home really fast, yet the gap for the successive two slices broadens remarkably, (i.e. the slowest movers). See for yourself!
- The quickest 25% of Warrington home movers (i.e. 1st to 10th) moves every 2 years & 10 weeks – that’s a quick move!
- The next fastest quartile (i.e. 11th to 20th) of Warrington home movers moves every 6 years & 31 weeks.
- The following 25% quickest quartile (i.e. 21st to 30th) of Warrington home movers moves every 18 years & 5 weeks.
- Finally, the 25% slowest quartile (i.e. 31st to 40th) of Warrington home movers only moves every 26 years & 10 weeks.
Looking at the top 50% of the quickest movers, half of Warrington homeowners move home again within 4 years and 20 weeks.
When looking at the properties that fall into the later bands (i.e. the ones that don’t move/sell so often), they tend to be the larger properties where the homeowners have lived for 30 years plus.
We all should learn that once people get into their 50s and 60s, their tendency to move home drops significantly. This means the properties on the lower rungs of the Warrington property ladder sell more often (as younger homeowners occupy them). Yet, once Warrington homeowners get older, their inclination to move home diminishes. This obstructs the younger Warrington generation wanting to buy the bigger Warrington homes these mature homeowners live in.
What is stopping the older generation homeowners from selling and downsizing to free up family homes for families that desperately need them? Some of it will be apathy, some will hold on to the homes they brought their families up in, or there might be another reason.
However, when you consider …
𝟱𝟬.𝟮% 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺𝘀.
That’s a lot of spare bedrooms, at least 15,553,574 spare bedrooms, not being used in the UK.
As a country, we need to change how we can support older homeowners in selling their large, underutilised homes to allow them to house the younger families that badly need them. Some people suggest tax breaks, yet the Government aren’t in the mood to give massive tax breaks to people who would ‘tend’ to be their existing voter base. Much of it comes down to not finding the right home to move to.
As a nation, we have seen (and will continue to see) a lot of socio-economic and demographic changes together with a rising elderly population, so it’s not just about how many homes we build but whether we are building the right kind of homes the older generation want to move into.
Interesting times ahead for the Warrington property market!
If you are a mature Warrington homeowner in a large home and are afraid to move because you can’t find one, please don’t hesitate to contact me. I might be able to place your Warrington home on the market without a for sale board or internet listing and find you a buyer who is prepared to wait for you to find one. If this interests you, without obligation do not hesitate to pick up the phone.
