Landlords and investors have been blamed for pushing first-time buyers and local buyers out of the market, according to a new survey.
In a poll of 2,000 adults, commissioned by Alto, six in ten (61%) said they believed that landlords and investors were crowding out first-time buyers and nearly half (48%) would support tougher restrictions on investors looking to buy new properties.
Meanwhile, nearly half (46%) said new builds in their area are aimed at investors and landlords, rather than local buyers. 44% said there aren’t enough properties available for them to buy.
Only one in ten new-build properties hit open market
The survey results are alongside research from leading proptech supplier, Alto, combined with ONS figures, which found that only one in ten newly built homes enters the open sales market. Of the estimated 200,000 new properties built in England over 2024/25, just 21,261 made it to the open market.
This was most obvious in London, where only 2% of new build homes reached the open market. Instead, many are going to build-to-rent developments, developer direct sales and affordable housing or share ownership schemes.
Riccardo Iannucci-Dawson, CEO of Alto, said: “People see homes being built and assume they’ll be available to buy, but the reality is many never reach the market buyers actually interact with day to day.”
“This isn’t just about how many homes are built, but how many are accessible – and in some areas, that’s a small fraction of total supply.
Increased rental demand
He said the imbalance could lead to further increases in rental demand.
“The UK is starting to mirror parts of Europe, like France and Germany, where long-term renting is more common and large-scale rental developments form a bigger part of the housing mix. Over time, that may lead to Britain becoming more of a nation of renters.”
The survey showed that 36% believe they won’t own their own property, blaming the market for being too expensive (60%) and not earning enough (58%). 15% said they prefer renting while 27% felt there was a need for increased regulation of rental prices.
Iannucci-Dawson added: “It is clear the appetite to own a home is still there, but the opportunity doesn’t mirror their eagerness.
“The open market is often estate agent led and follows the traditional path of the buyer finding a property through an agent.
“It is clear to see a large proportion of homes aren’t making it to the ‘typical’ sales stream because it removes the opportunity for so many to get on the ladder.”
Alto has created a tool that allows users to find out how many properties being built near them are currently available to buy.
This article is taken from Landlord Today