The HomeOwners Alliance and BLP Insurance have presented research that suggests more than 1 million UK adults have changed their plans regarding buying new property because of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union. The new research has been presented by the campaigning and advice company, HomeOwners Alliance that suggests that the result of the referendum that took place in June last year is one of a number of different reasons that more and more British homeowners are choosing to stay put rather than move house. The HomeOwners Alliance carried out the work with the leading warranty provider BLP Insurance in order to work out the state of the housing market.
It has been revealed in the research that more than 7.5 million adults in the UK have decided to delay their plans to move house this year. It is thought that this decision to delay has come from a number of different reasons including the referendum. The Challengers that are created by house prices rising has made 26% of those asked put off moving, whereas the increased cost of living has made 25% of UK homeowners delay any moving plans. A Quarter of householders have foreseen a difficulty with re-mortgaging and 15% said that they have put plans on hold due to the Brexit vote. Regionally, it is thought that people in the North East and Northern Ireland were more likely to cancel plans to move, with 27% and 21% of homeowners delaying moving respectively.
It is thought that this situation could be relieved by the government looking again at stamp duty. The high levels of this charge can add a significant extra cost to moving house, and the unwillingness to pay this can lead to a drag on the mortgage. It has been suggested that the market could be kept moving in this uncertain time by reducing the burden for genuine owner occupiers.
