Two-thirds of UK homebuyers would prioritise certainty over speed when purchasing a property as affordability pressures leave buyers with less room to compromise.
New research from Cotality finds 66% of UK buyers would choose greater certainty during the homebuying process rather than completing more quickly.
Buyers particularly want clearer costs, greater transparency around mortgage decisions and confidence that their transaction will successfully complete.
The findings come as the property industry and Government continue to examine reforms intended to provide buyers and sellers with more information earlier in the transaction.
LESS ROOM TO COMPROMISE
Cotality’s Consumer Sentiment Report also compares attitudes among buyers in the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
UK buyers emerge as less willing than their international counterparts to change their finances, lifestyle or property expectations to make a purchase possible.
Some 59% of UK respondents would cut lifestyle spending compared with 69% across all five countries.
Just 53% of UK buyers would consider taking a smaller mortgage, against 65% internationally, while 42% would contemplate buying a smaller home compared with 59% across the wider sample.
Jim Driver (main picture, inset), Managing Director at Cotality UK, says: “The important message from this research is that buyers haven’t stepped away from the market, but there is less room for compromise than we see in other countries.”
TRANSACTION CERTAINTY
Cotality says the findings strengthen the case for homebuying reform focused on improving transparency and providing buyers, sellers and lenders with better information earlier in the process.
Driver says: “The UK housing market asks consumers to make one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives without consistently providing the information they need at the point they need it.
“Whether through digital property information, improved data sharing or clearer visibility of a home’s condition and energy performance, we believe better information creates better outcomes. The more certainty we can provide buyers and sellers, the more efficiently the market can operate.”
He adds: “Buyers have told us exactly what they’re looking for: clarity, confidence and certainty.”
