Younger homebuyers are bearing the brunt of England and Wales’s outdated property transaction system according to new research from Santander UK, which warns that a “broken” homebuying process is stifling mobility and deepening housing inequality.
The study, Fixing the Broken Chain, produced in partnership with WPI Economics and polling firm JL Partners, found that more than 530,000 property transactions collapse each year.
Among those aged 25 to 34, over a third (36%) have experienced a failed sale or purchase – a far higher proportion than the 23% average across all age groups.
The report also reveals that the emotional strain of moving home falls disproportionately on younger buyers.
STRESSED OUT
Almost two thirds of 18 to 24-year-olds said they felt constantly or frequently stressed during the process, compared with 54% of the wider population.
Santander’s findings suggest this has led many would-be buyers to step back altogether.
Four out of 10 (42%) of 18 to 24-year-olds and a similar number (38%) of 25 to 34-year-olds have considered delaying or abandoning plans to purchase a home because of the process.
Older homeowners are equally discouraged, with a third of those aged between 55 and 64 and over a third of those aged 65 to 74 saying they were less likely to move following previous negative experiences.
The result, the bank warns, is a misallocation of housing stock, with older owners unable to downsize, families unable to move up, and first-time buyers locked out.
EASIER TO BUY AND SELL
Santander’s head of homes, David Morris, says: “Buying a first home or moving to accommodate a growing family should be a moment of joy, but, for too many young people, it’s become an exhausting and uncertain ordeal that puts huge pressure on their finances and family life, let alone their mental health.
“This absolutely should not be the case for a transaction that constitutes one of their biggest financial commitments.
“We need to act to make it easier for people of all ages to buy and sell so we can get the market moving, that’s why we’re calling for a number of simple yet powerful reforms, which would give buyers and sellers more confidence, ease the financial and emotional strain and create a housing system fit for the next generation.”
Santander has urged the government and regulators to modernise the process by mandating digitisation across the homebuying chain, improving data sharing through open property systems, requiring better upfront information from all parties, discouraging gazumping and gazundering, and exploring the use of artificial intelligence to streamline transactions.
