To coincide with the online publication of “How to Buy a Flat” – a non fiction title offering advice on buying a flat – HowTo.co.uk looks at the nation’s obsession with buying property.
To coincide with the online publication of “How to Buy a Flat” – a non fiction title offering advice on buying a flat – HowTo.co.uk looks at the nation’s obsession with buying property.
The old saying ‘An Englishman’s home is his castle’ can be traced back to the 16th century and it is still a popular figure of speech. But is the dream of home ownership that first emerged in the boom years following the Second World War still a number one priority for the British public?
A Nation of Home Owners
According to housing statistics for the European Union, the UK’s owner occupation rate of 70% places it behind only the long established home occupier kings of Europe, Spain, with France (at 56%) and Germany (45%) well behind.
This deep-seated urge to ‘have our own place’ has for too many years gripped the British in a state of collective mania, prompting many to out mortgages that we cannot afford. Despite previous crashes in the property market, and with repossessions running at their highest level for years, it appears that when it comes to home ownership we lose all sense of proportion.
A Change
In a 2006 survey of UK home ownership, the number of people who own their homes fell for the first time since the 1950s. The following year it fell by a record 83,000 (CLG, Tenure Trend data series) while the number of households renting privately rose by 107,000. Over the past five years however, house prices doubled, resulting in an inflated sense of self-worth.
Credit Crunch
It is all over the news in 2008; Britain is well and truly caught up in the global credit crunch. The impact on the housing market has been major, with property prices falling, mortgage lenders restricting home loan finance, and buyers at last exercising some much needed financial caution. There are fewer people buying a flat, let alone a house. The rental sector has continued its steady expansion of the last two years, with many first-time buyers choosing to delay their house purchase.
A Very British Mindset
It is telling to compare the UK to Germany, where people have traditionally favoured renting over buying until they are well into their forties, thanks in no small part to a fear of debt that has been passed down through generations. The figures of 12% (UK) against 53% (Germany) for the rented sector do not lie.
Renting in the UK has always been too expensive to convince would-be homebuyers that a monthly rent is not just ‘dead money’, and the worry is what will happen once the natural economic cycle reasserts itself and house prices raise again after a period of correction.
The voice of sanity struggles to be heard in the world of mortgage debt; it seems that owning a property is so ingrained in our national psyche that we will always be looking for our dream house.
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