61% of Brits who think that their house price will decrease if Britain leaves the EU, believe that it will take five years or more for the value of properties to return to their current levels, according to research published by alternative finance platform Wellesley Finance.
29% of those who think that their house price will decrease in value if Britain votes to Brexit, believe that it will take 10 years or longer for the UK property market to stabilise following a potential exit from Europe.
Furthermore, 72% of Londoners who worry that the value of their property will be dented if Britain leaves the EU think it will take five years or more for the market to recover. This is also the case in Scotland, where 19% of those who share the same fears believe that house prices will never return to their current levels if Britain leaves the EU.
The study also revealed that concerns about the damage to the property market are most strongly felt amongst Conservative voters who think that their house price will decrease in value if Britain leaves the EU, 63% of whom think it will take five years or longer for the value of their homes to return to their current levels.
This is in contrast to UKIP supporters who are concerned about losing value on their property, who are much less pessimistic. Just 6% of those said it would take over five years to restore any dent in value in properties.
31% thought that Brexit would decrease foreign investment into the UK, but people were dived on the effects of this on house prices. Younger generations are the most worried about the impact of a Brexit on UK housing. 28% of 18-24 year olds think that it will become less affordable if we vote to leave the EU.
In comparison, only 10% of those aged 65 or older think that this will be the case, and 18% of this age group actually think that affordability will improve.
This is a view shared by 34% of UKIP voters, but just 12% of Labourites are optimistic that housing will become more affordable.
Graham Wellesley, founder and CEO of Wellesley Finance, said: “These figures show that people across the UK are deeply worried about how their properties will be affected if Britain votes to leave the EU later this month. We believe that a short term drop in property prices is due to the short term uncertainty. Prices in Central London above £1.5m have seen a slowdown already due to changes in Stamp Duty and the availability of funding. The property market under £1.5m appears to be stronger.
“Buying a home is a huge investment and a major life event for the majority of Britons so is an understandable concern in the upcoming referendum.
“We cannot know how the property market will react to the results of the vote. As an independent British Business, we are committed to the sustainable future of the nation’s housing market irrespective of the outcome of the referendum. Whilst this survey shows concerns over the impact of Brexit, we believe that in the long run there remains a fundamental mismatch in the supply and demand of housing in the UK. Wellesley aims to facilitate the finance for property developers and house-builders and better Britain as a country, in or out of the common market.”