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10% drop in home moves by homeowners since Brexit vote

Christina Hoghton
Written By:
Christina Hoghton
Posted:
Updated:
24/07/2018

Cautious homeowners are reluctant to take on more debt

UK homeowners are choosing to stay put, with the number of home moves plummeting by 10% between 2016 and 2017, according to reallymoving.com.

The home move website said that Brexit uncertainty has made homeowners reluctant to take on further mortgage borrowing.

The number of moves by owner-occupiers fell from 476,000 in the year to March 2016, the year of the EU Referendum, to 430,000 in the year to March 2017, a reduction of 46,000.

Long-term home

Homeowners are now staying in their homes for an average of 27.3 years, compared to 24.3 years in 2013/14, an increase of 13%.

Rob Houghton, CEO of reallymoving.com said: “The life events that normally prompt home moves, such as growing families, new jobs and separation or divorce, are continuing as normal, yet home moves by owner-occupiers have dropped considerably over the last year.

“Our research shows that homeowners were moving increasingly frequently up to 2015, but this trend is now clearly in reverse, which I expect to continue.”