In the last three years, 1.6 million households have delayed the decision to move home. When asked what caused them to put their plans on ice, most (60%) blamed Brexit.
Ongoing uncertainty around how Brexit will play out has caused 937,000 Brits to delay moving home, research commissioned by GoCompare has found.
In the last three years, 1.6 million households have delayed the decision to move home. When asked what caused them to put their plans on ice, most (60%) blamed Brexit.
Ryan Fulthorpe, spokesperson for GoCompare Home Insurance, said: “While there’s been much debate about how the UK’s departure from the EU will affect the economy and housing market – the full impact of Brexit is still a complete unknown.
“So, it’s understandable that the continued uncertainty surrounding when and how the UK will leave the EU is causing many people to put-off big financial commitments such as moving house.
“While some potential homebuyers have decided to wait and see how Brexit pans out, there are many who will want to get moving.
“Buying a home is a big financial commitment. In addition to the purchase price of the property, there are several up-front costs people need to ensure they have covered - these include stamp duty, survey and valuation fees, legal and estate agent fees.
“To help homebuyers total up these upfront costs, GoCompare has produced a cost of moving calculator.”
Other reasons people gave for postponing a house move included a lack of funds (33%), difficulty in obtaining a high enough mortgage (14%), affordability of housing in the area in which they would like to move (14%) and concerns over job security (12%).
While Brexit was the top answer for both men and women, men were much more likely to blame EU exit uncertainty (68%) than women (48%), while women were more concerned about a lack of funds (43%) than men (25%).
Women were also much more likely than men to have delayed a home move because of high property prices in the area they’d like to live, 22% compared with 8% for men, or because of job uncertainty , 22% for women compared with 6% for men.
