Ask the Editor

Q:  Is there really a house shortage in the UK or is it just a myth?

A:  All our research would indicate that there is a definite house shortage in the UK at present.  There are many reasons behind this and I’ll try to cover a few to explain why.

Firstly people have been holding off putting their homes on the market for the last two years due to the poor return they believe they’ll get from selling.   In some cases this is simply due to over inflation of the prices, but in others it’s due to a fear of negative equity in the property for those who overpaid in the first place.

Secondly investors who saw the opportunities of the recession early on managed to scoop up a lot of property for buy to let investments and haven’t put those properties back on the market to sell.

If you consider that the UK needs about 240 000 houses a year then just these two factors will have an enormous impact.

Add to that the rising increase in the UK population due to immigration and birth rates.  Our divorce rate, aging population and youth leaving home earlier is also increasing the number of one person households, again driving up demand.