"Uncertainty, rising borrowing costs and cost-of-living increases mean that many people are staying in their homes for longer"
- Cormac Henderson - Spring
The average time homeowners are living in their properties climbed to 121 months (10 years) between 2019 and 2022 from an average of 110 months (9 years) between 2015-18. Between 2011 and 2014 the average was just 99 months or 8.25 years.
The data forms part of new research from Spring and PropAlt who analysed Land Registry data.
In terms of property sizes, people typically stay in three-bedroom houses for 94 months (7.8 years), rising to 102 months (8.5 years) for four-bedroom houses and 109 months (9 years) for five-bedroom homes. This period rises to 113 months (9.4 years) for six-bedroom homes.
While it is to be expected that people live in large family homes for longer, anecdotal and numerous third-party evidence also suggests a chronic lack of liquidity for larger properties, with many people feeling trapped by barriers to downsizing such as the cost of moving and Stamp Duty Land Tax.
Spring has long been vocal about a need to offer a reduction in Stamp Duty Land Tax for those at the top of the market to help encourage downsizing and stimulate the wider market.
Looking at this data from a regional view, homeowners living in a five-bedroom house in the City of London are staying in their home for 129 months (10.75 years), slightly longer than the UK average. This trend is also evident in the district of Richmondshire in North Yorkshire, where the average period is 126 months (10.5 years) and Knowsley in Merseyside 137 months (11.4 years).
In comparison, homeowners who own a four-bedroom home in the City of London are staying in their home for 100 months (8.3 years), whereas homeowners who own a three-bedroom home in the City of London are staying in their home for 119 months (9.9 years) and homeowners who own a two-bedroom home are staying put for 98 months (8.1 years) on average.
Homeowners who own a four-bedroom home in Richmondshire, North Yorkshire stay in their home for 102 months (8.5 years), whereas homeowners who own a three-bed in this region stay put for 98 months (8.1 years) and those who own a two-bed home stay in their home for 97 months (8 years).
Looking back at Knowsley in Merseyside, homeowners who own a four-bedroom home are staying in their home for 108 months (9 years), falling to 98 months (8.1 years) for those who own a three-bedroom home, and the average time for a two-bedroom home is 97 months (8 years).
The findings come as national home buying service Spring reports that enquiries from home movers looking to downsize have increased by 15% over the past 12 months, likely driven by cost-of-living increases causing many to consider ‘rightsizing’ their property and freeing up capital either for themselves or to support their children. Equally, some older downsizers have historically been put off by the lack of suitable retirement properties on the market, which is gradually changing.
Cormac Henderson, co-founder and executive chairman at Spring, comments: “Uncertainty, rising borrowing costs and cost-of-living increases mean that many people are staying in their homes for longer. Another factor to consider is that with getting onto the property ladder becoming so difficult, grown-up children are staying at home for longer than ever before, which might be putting the brakes on parents downsizing their homes.”
“We also know that many older residents feel trapped in their large family homes. We’ve previously called on the government to introduce an initiative for Stamp Duty Land Tax exceptions for downsizers, and we still believe this initiative would accelerate the number of elderly homeowners who are considering downsizing.”
