Royal Mail : Optimism falling among renters that they will be able to buy their own home

People renting their home who want to buy in the future are less optimistic that they will be able to do so, a study of Royal Mail's service customers has revealed.

Across the UK, 36 per cent of renters surveyed say they are more optimistic about buying their own home in the future compared to last year. However, this is a fall of 14 per cent compared with six months earlier when 42 per cent of renters said they were more optimistic of buying in the future.

Optimism highest in the Midlands, lowest in the South East

The study of Royal Mail Redirection service customers found people renting their home in the Midlands are the most positive about their prospects for buying a home with 44 per cent more optimistic compared to last year. This is followed by people renting in the North East where 42 per cent said their optimism had risen.

Only 28 per cent of people living in the South East are more optimistic of buying a property compared to last year - the lowest percentage of all regions. The study also found that 38 per cent of renters surveyed in Wales said theyare more optimistic of buying a property compared to last year. InScotland, the figure is34 per cent.

Barriers to buying

Almost a third (32 per cent) of renters surveyed said the prospect of saving enough money for a deposit is preventing them from buying their own home. This was highest in London (40 per cent), followed by the South East and North West at 38 per cent. Across Britain, this was of concern the least in the North East where 28 per cent said this was a factor which was stopping them buying their own home.

Almost one in five renters surveyed (17 per cent) identified being unable to find a property they want to but as a barrier to buying a home. Outside of London, where 20 per cent of renters said this was the case, this was highest in Thames Valley with 18 per cent of people surveyed citing this as an issue.

Not earning enough to qualify for a mortgage was a reason given by 11 per cent of renters surveyed. This was highest in Anglia and the South West at 16 per cent but least of an issue in the Midlands (six per cent). Ten per cent of renters surveyed said concern about the cost of mortgage repayments was a factor which was preventing them from buying.

Andrea Martin, Royal Mail's Managing Director of Data Services, said:"Royal Mail's study of our Redirection service customers shows that optimism among renters that they will be able to buy their own home is declining. There are a range of factors that could have affected renters' optimism to buy, ranging from tighter mortgage lending rules to higher property prices."

Combating ID fraud when you move home

The study comes as Royal Mail encourages people across the UK to redirect their mail when moving home in order to protect themselves against identity fraud. Royal Mail's Redirection service enables home movers to redirect their mail from their old address to their new home. In 2013 Action Fraud received 133,216 reports of fraud that involved illegal use of someone's identity with a total value of £410 million.

Action Fraud, the UK's national reporting centre for fraud and internet crime, advises individuals to redirect their mail for at least a year after moving home to help protect them from identity fraud. For further information on ways to protect against identity fraud, people should visit the identity fraud page of the Action Fraud website.

James Eadie on 07850 757271 or email james.r.eadie@royalmail.com

Technical note:

Fieldwork was conducted by Ipsos MORI between 27/03/14 and 04/04/2014 for the first wave of research, and 10/09/14 and 16/09/14 for the second wave of research.

The fieldwork methodology was an online survey. 

For the first wave of research Royal Mail supplied contact details of customers who took out their Redirection Service between 13 October 2013 and 13 March 2014.  The second wave surveyed customers who had taken out the service between 14 March to 31 August 2014.

These customers were invited to participate by an email supplying an online link.  9% of those invited completed the survey in the first wave, 9% (again) did so in the second wave.

UK national coverage was achieved but data has not been weighted by region.  Additionally no quotas or weights have been applied on age, gender or other demographics at national or regional levels.  Therefore the results do not claim to be nationally representative of the UK population or of each region individually.

About Ipsos MORI

Ipsos MORI, part of the Ipsos Group, is a leading UK research company with global reach. We specialise in researching Loyalty (customer and employee relationship management); Advertising (brand equity and communications); Marketing (consumer, retail & shopper and healthcare); MediaCT (media and technology) , Social & political research and Reputation Research.