UK Consumer Attitudes towards Investing in Property Market Report 2021

Providing the most comprehensive and up-to-date information and analysis of the UK Consumer Attitudes Towards Investing In Property market, including the behaviours, preferences and habits of the consumer.

Despite the enormous impact COVID-19 has had on the economy, effectively shutting down the housing market for months, the effect on property investors is mixed. 26% say the pandemic has had a positive impact on their investment, while 28% say it has had a negative impact, and 44% say it has had no impact. This means their short and mid-term needs will be varied and wide-ranging.

Challenging conditions due to the pandemic resulted in a 13% contraction in new lending in 2020. This was driven mainly by a sharp drop in remortgaging activity, which accounts for the lion’s share of new business. Following the initial shock and lockdown, the market has bounced back, particularly as investors sought to take advantage of the temporary reduction in SDLT.

It is expected the market will return to more normal levels of growth in 2021 but competition and product availability has worsened as lenders respond to heightened uncertainty and the threat of rising arrears and bad debts. Emergency measures introduced to protect renters have left landlords more exposed to the economic fallout and have highlighted grey areas regarding tenants’ and landlords’ rights.

However, faster-than-expected recovery and encouraging conditions could boost the market in 2021. Unprecedented levels of savings have accumulated during the pandemic by high-income households, which are key for growth in this sector. Potential investors see COVID-19 permanently changing the housing market, but also creating new prospects to invest. Seizing the right opportunity is the primary motivator to invest in property, which means changing lifestyles due to the pandemic could result in more people considering purchasing investment property.

Read on to discover more details or take a look at all of our Financial Services market research.

Quickly understand

• The impact of COVID-19 on the property investment market and existing investors.
• Existing investors’ short-term plans.
• Motivations to invest in property among existing and prospective investors.
• Interest in different types of property investments.
• Attitudes towards investing in property, including how COVID-19 will change the market.
• Property investment market.
• Property investment analyst overview.

Covered in this report

Brands: Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide Building Society, Barclays, Coventry Building Society, NatWest Group, OneSavings Bank Group, Santander, Paragon.

Expert analysis from a specialist in the field

Written by Irene Salazar, a leading analyst in the Finance sector, her extensive knowledge delivers in-depth commentary and analysis to highlight current trends and add expert context to the numbers.

Unprecedented levels of savings have been accumulated during the pandemic by high-income households, which are key for growth in this sector. Potential investors see COVID-19 permanently changing the housing market, but also creating new prospects to invest. Seizing the right opportunity is the main motivator to invest in property, which means changing lifestyles due to the pandemic could result in more people considering the purchase of investment property

Irene Salazar
Senior Financial Services Analyst