A survey commissioned by Nationwide Building Society has looked into the main reasons for the slow down in property transactions.
This follows the news from HMRC that the number of residential property transactions has halved since its 150,000 a month high in December 2006 to its current low of just over 70,000.
The research found that three-quarters of home owners have been in their current property for more than five years.
Meanwhile, 60% of non-homeowners have no current plans to buy a property in the foreseeable future and 38% have no intention of ever moving again.
For those homeowners whose property has become too small for them, 29% said they would extend or make do rather than move. Only 25% would look to move to a bigger home.
Nationwide asked homeowners what had affected their plans to move, and 45% of those surveyed mentioned either the state of the economy or the costs involved in moving home, or both, as representing the main barriers, with instability of house prices following behind at 28%.
When asked about financing their move, most people estimated it would cost them between £5,000 and £10,000 with most people rating solicitors’ fees as the biggest cost, rather than stamp duty or estate agents’ fees.
“A healthy housing market is key to a healthy economy which is why we are focussing our efforts on getting the nation moving again,” said Tracie Pearce, head of mortgages at Nationwide.
“It’s no surprise that the economy and costs are the main barriers to people moving. However, if people want to move we’d urge them to look at the options; many fixed rate mortgages are at an all time low and with offers like ours, upfront fees need not be a significant barrier.”
