By Andrew Batt:
More than three quarters of British house-hunters prefer to buy a brand new home rather than renting or buying a second hand property.
A survey by Barratt Homes, the U.K.’s leading homebuilder, revealed that 79 per cent of house-hunters would prefer to buy new – a 27 percent increase in the popularity of new build since the same research was last conducted in 2008.
A total of 5,000 home-hunters were questioned earlier this year and the 5,000, with lower maintenance, lower running costs, higher specifications and solid construction given as the main factors for buying a new property.
Jan Ruston, Sales Director for Barratt East Midlands (pictured), said: "Our customers in are telling us that renting is more expensive than buying, and with schemes like the government-backed NewBuy 95 percent mortgage scheme, buyers can buy a brand new home with as little as 5 percent deposit. This scheme is not available in the second hand market.
The survey also discovered that 33 percent of those polled had been saving a deposit for more than five years. Overall 60 percent of respondents are assisted by their parents to buy a home, including: being a guarantor (8 percent), or providing a loan (9 percent) to help with furnishing the property (27 percent) or help with a deposit (20 percent).
Some 39 percent of respondents indicated that they expect to purchase within the next 12 months.
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