Banking and Financial News

NHF: House prices affected by second-home owners - 01/02/2008

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Second-home owners in the UK "definitely" impact on the price of property in general, according to a National Housing Federation (NHF) spokesperson.

He said that the fact that so many people own a second home in the country is adding pressure to the housing market.

His comments come after YouGov research, carried out on behalf of Direct Line Home Insurance, noted there are 328,000 second-homeowners in the UK.

It is expected that this figure will rise by 24 per cent by 2015, according to the research, meaning that the market will be worth some £53 billion in the next ten years.

The NHF spokesperson commented: "The number of second home owners in the UK is definitely having an impact on house prices generally."

He explained that people on low or even median incomes will find it "very hard" to afford their own home, despite the fact that there are signs of a "slight dip" in the housing market.

Because house prices have increased to such a high level, even a "significant" drop would do little to ease affordability pressures, the spokesperson asserted.

He added: "One of the great pressures on the market is the fact that there is such a shortage of supply and incredibly high demand."

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