Redrow’s Sales Director On Post-Lockdown Buyer Trends
From rightsizing to relocating, let-to-buy to Stamp Duty savings, James Holmear, Redrow’s group sales director, reveals the homebuying trends the housebuilder has seen post-lockdown.
As the UK went into lockdown in mid-March many people across the country were spending little more than an hour outside of their homes each day. Some fell back in love with their properties, while for many the time spent indoors inspired them to reconsider what they want from their home. In fact, our research of more than 2,000 future home movers found that, since being in lockdown, a quarter have re-evaluated what they want from their next home, with this increasing significantly to 53% for those with children under the age of 10, or who are currently expecting a child.
One size doesn’t fit all
What lockdown has shown us is that many older couples, growing families and newly single people are no longer settling for a home that isn’t the right size for them. For 66% of over 65s our research found that having access to private outdoor space, such as a garden, terrace area or balcony, will be the most important factor when choosing their next home. My colleagues at developments across the country have told me they are seeing many more older home buyers seeking to ‘rightsize’ since the housing market reopened. Often, these are people whose adult children have flown the nest, as well as other older couples and singles, who wish to move to a new home that is ‘ready to go’ and low maintenance, but they don’t want to compromise on the vital space to entertain guests and family.
One of my favourite examples of customers moving to a Redrow home to ‘right-size’ is retirees Chris (77) and Roger (81) who, after 53 years in their first and only home, purchased a four-bedroom, detached home at our Marleberg Grange development in Marlborough, Wiltshire. The couple fell in love with the spacious open-plan layout, that was quite different from their previous home, and the opportunity to design an entirely new garden filled with flowers.
We’re aware of these changing needs and evolving lifestyles, which is why we created our Lifestyle Homes as part of the Heritage Collection. These homes are designed to suit those who want an open-plan living space that can be easily adapted to reflect their lifestyle preferences at the time.
Relocating out of the city
Our research also found that more than seven in ten of those who are currently working from home believe they will continue to work from home on a regular basis moving forwards. This new opportunity has encouraged many Londoners, who previously lived in the capital for an easy commute, to relocate to countryside hotspots for a lifestyle change. Our South East region has experienced a flurry of buyers moving from London to the South East of Kent over the last few months. This include Sofia and Alex, who recently reserved a home at our Marden development Vicarage Fields. They were previously renting in Brentford and commuting to their jobs in central London, but decided they wanted to buy somewhere with more open space. Given, post COVID-19, they wouldn’t be returning to their offices full-time they decided they were willing to double their commute time if it meant they could live in a quintessential English village with plenty of charm and lots of open, green space on their doorstep.
In this region we have seen also seen a number of these home movers doing so through let-to-buy. Let-to-buy is where the owner of a home rents out the property to tenants and then uses the money accrued through rent to help pay the mortgage on a new home. With many people eager to move and revamp their lifestyle, some customers are finding this is one of the quickest ways to do so.
Stamp duty holiday boon for buyers
In July, the UK government announced a Stamp Duty holiday on all home purchases in England up to the value of £500,000, with the Welsh government also announcing a temporary increase to the nil rate band of Land Transaction Tax (LTT) for residential property transactions to £250,000.
This is a really positive step in helping stimulate the housing market and wider economy, which has proved to be a real boon for all buyer demographics, whether first-time buyers, next steppers or right-sizers. In a number of cases, buyers in England have been able to save up to £15,000 in Stamp Duty costs, which some of our customers are using to bolster their deposit, meaning they can take a bigger step onto or up the ladder than expected, or to personalise their new home. It will be interesting to see how the UK and Welsh Governments responds to these positive results – the Stamp Duty holidays are due to end on 31 March 2021 – and consider a wider reduction in Stamp Duty land tax across all price brackets, hopefully in the near future.
Find out about all Redrow Homes developments in England and Wales.