New research from financial services provider OneFamily reveals that the political climate is acting as the main deterrent for those in a financial position ready to get on the property ladder. More than half (55%) of aspiring first-time buyers with a deposit at the ready are holding off on buying as a result of Brexit – the equivalent of at least 136,000 people across the UK.
Most (75%) of those holding off on account of Brexit say that the economic future is simply too uncertain to buy a property at the moment.
This uncertainty is a likely cause for the slowdown in the UK’s property market which is at its weakest in six years[ii], leaving two out of three first-time buyers (65%) ready to buy believing that doing so before Brexit would be a bad financial decision. The majority of (55%) of them are therefore delaying their purchase as they think they will be able to get more for their money after 29 March this year.
One in five (22%) first-time buyers will purchase a property before Brexit, with common reasons including they have already found their ideal property and they don’t mind losing money on it (29%) and they have waited long enough (22%). Just 15% say they don’t think Brexit will affect property prices.
While many in a financial position to buy are waiting until the uncertainty settles, those who aren’t quite there yet are hoping that Brexit will bring down property prices. At the moment, nearly three in five (57%) say that high property prices are preventing them from buying a home, but if the market were to dip post-Brexit the situation could be quite different.
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