"There is a great deal of focus on the difficulties facing first-time buyers trying to get onto the property ladder but... second-time buyers are facing a variety of difficult challenges of their own. "
The top barriers to moving home by potential second-time buyers include finding a home within budget (38%), finding a home in the right location (25%), having a large enough deposit (18%), not being able to cover moving costs (15%) and being in negative equity (8%).
21% said they have found themselves stuck in a house that is too small for their family or in an area they don’t like due to housing affordability (16%).
The survey of more than 1,000 Brits living in their first home found that the average cost of the next property is £370,539. As well as 14% having to borrow money from family to support a move, eight in ten 85% would have to make some sort of sacrifice to be able to move up the housing ladder.
Around a quarter would need to change their career or job or increase working hours. 19% would need to make significant changes to lifestyle, while the same proportion would need to delay plans for starting a family and 16% would put on hold any plans to get married.
Despite the struggles experienced by potential second time movers, one in five of those surveyed said they weren’t willing to forgo anything at all on the next property they bought.
55% want their next home to be detached, and more than a quarter (26%) want it to be their forever home. Just over a third (35%) said they were holding out for their dream home.
Of those surveyed, 80% said they could be convinced to stay in their current home if they could make some changes.
Henry Jordan, Nationwide’s director of mortgages, said: “There is a great deal of focus on the difficulties facing first-time buyers trying to get onto the property ladder but, as the research shows, second-time buyers are facing a variety of difficult challenges of their own. Many are having to make compromises in terms of size or location of their new home, or make spending cutbacks and personal sacrifices to move and avoid becoming stuck in a property that isn’t appropriate for their changing needs."
