The Changing Shape of the UK Mortgage Market

18-12-2019

Average length of time homeowner stays in property increased to 20 years

The number of years a homeowner stays in their property has lengthened to 20 years on average, down from a high of eight years in the late 1980s.

The trend has been influenced by factors including low inflation, longer mortgage terms and increased life expectancy, a new joint report from UK Finance and Hometrack, The Changing Shape of the UK Mortgage Market, has shown.

Part of the report looks at how the housing market context for mortgage lending has changed in the decade since the financial crisis:

• Homeowners accounted for their lowest share of housing moves at 35 per cent of the market in 2018, compared with 37 per cent in 2013, the analysis found.
• Trading down has become less attractive given price compression between, and undersupply of, two- and three-bedroom homes. This has led to homeowners being unable to withdraw sufficient amounts of equity to justify a move.
• In the future, homeowners would be likely to move for reasons such as employment or a change in circumstance rather than “taking on greater mortgage debt for purely aspirational motives,” the report said.