Older ‘Last Time Buyers’ Now A Growing Part Of The Market

As many as one transaction in three is now undertaken by a so-called Last Time Buyer - twice as many as a decade ago. Data from the Intermediary Mortgage Lenders Association shows nearly 200,000 owner occupier housing transactions in England annually are made by the over-55s as a growing number use their equity reserves to find their last home. IMLA’s research shows that each year only around 2.5 per cent of the estimated 8m older homeowners in England move but it predicts this to grow as the demographic group is increasing faster than any other. Read more on the Estate Agent Today website.

https://www.estateagenttoday.co.uk/breaking-news/2019/4/older-last-time-buyers-now-a-growing-part-of-the-market-figures-reveal

“Last Time Buyer” Market Worth £820 Billion

A successful downsizing policy for 'last-time buyers' could play a key role in solving the UK's housing crisis, according to a new report. Research from Legal & General and Cebr shows that there are approximately 5.3 million under-occupied homes in the UK with 3.3 million last-time buyers (LTB) looking to downsize. The LTB market owns 7.7m spare bedrooms and a total of £820 billion of housing wealth, set to reach £1.2 trillion by 2020. Key research findings include:

·         A typical LTB lives in a four-bed house, but wants a two-bed property

·         Almost a third of older homeowners considered downsizing in the last five years; only 7% actually did

·         A majority (58%) put it off until after 70; a quarter until 80 or older.

Read more on the CEBR website.