Yes, that number is staggering isn’t it ….
Of the 23,195 households in Southampton where the head of the
household is 65 years or older, an astounding 15,461 (or 66.7%) of those are
owned, which is below the national average of 74.1%, which sounds great – yet
nothing could be further from the truth.
I chat with many Southampton pensioners who would like to move
but cannot, as there is a scarcity of such properties for Southampton mature
people to downsize into. Due to their scarcity and high demand, Southampton
bungalows on average get a 12% to 22% premium per square metre premium over
two storey properties. To add insult to
injury, a recent NHBC reported that only 1% of new builds in the Country were single
storey bungalows (compared to 7% in the mid 1990’s).
Southampton
OAP’s are sitting on £4,387.9m of equity in these Southampton homes
In a survey conducted a couple of years ago by YouGov, they established
that just over one third of homeowning people aged 65 and over in the Country
were looking to downsize into a smaller home. Yet, the Tory’s over the last
nine years have appeared to target all their attention on first-time buyers
with stratagems such as Starter Homes to safeguard the youngsters of the UK not
becoming perpetual members of ‘Generation Rent’. Equally
though, this doesn’t address the long-lasting under-supply of suitable
retirement housing essential to the needs of the Southampton’s hastily ageing
population. Lamentably, the Southampton’s
housing stock is tragically unprepared for this demographic shift to the 'overextended
middle age’, and this has created a new 'Generation Confined’ quandary where
older people cannot move.
Also,
those older Southampton retirees’ who do live in the limited number of Southampton
bungalows are finding it difficult to live on their own, as they are unable to
leave their bungalow because of a lack of sheltered housing and ‘affordable’
care home places.
Meaning those older Southampton retirees can't leave their Southampton
bungalows, younger Southampton retirees in their larger 2 storey family houses can't
buy those Southampton bungalows (occupied by the older retirees) and those Southampton
people in the 30’s and 40’s can't buy those larger 2 storey family houses (occupied
by the younger retirees) they need to for their growing families ... it’s like
everyone is waiting for everyone because of the bottleneck at the top.
Southampton’s (and the rest of the UK’s) property prices have soared
over the last 50 years because the number of properties built has not kept up
with demand. With restrictive planning
regulations, migration, people living longer and excessive divorce rates
(meaning one family becomes two) we need, as a Country, 240,000 properties to be
built a year since the Millennium to just stand still.
At the turn of the Millennium, the Country was constructing on
average 180,000 to 190,000 households a year, that figure dropped in the five
years after the Credit Crunch to 135,000 and 145,000 households a year. Although we built 217,000 last year, we still
have all those 19 years to make up for.
The answer …. allow more land for starter homes, bungalows and
sheltered accommodation because land prices are stifling the property market
as the large building firms are more likely to focus on traditional houses and
apartments than bungalows (because they make more money from them).
My thoughts for the savvy Southampton property investors – until the Government change the planning
rules and allow more land to be built on – Bungalows, especially ones that need
some TLC after someone has passed away bungalows are a great bet for flipping
and even potential rental returns for future property investment as more and
more OAP’s will be renting in the decades to come?
If you would like to pick my brains on the Southampton Property Market – pop in for a coffee or drop me a line on social media or email.
If you are looking for an agent that is well established, professional and communicative, then contact us to find out how we can get the best out of your investment property.
Email me on brian.linehan@belvoir.co.uk or call on 023 8001 8222.
Don't forget to visit the links below to view back dated deals and Southampton Property News.
Twitter, https://twitter.com/sotonbelvoir
LinkedIn, https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianlinehan
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