Just as many people in Britain want house prices to go down as want them to go up, and preference changes greatly for voters of different ages and stages of home ownership
A key component of Chancellor George Osborne’s 2013 Budget was a Help to Buy scheme aimed at helping first-time home buyers pay for their mortgage. Critics argue that the program will inflate house prices and possibly contribute to another housing price bubble. Meanwhile rising house prices have affected much of Britain, especially London.
One question that is rarely asked, however, is whether the public would themselves prefer house prices to go up or down. New YouGov research can now reveal that the issue divides Britain, with people of different ages and stages of home ownership leaning in different directions. Overall, the three different possibilities are each prefered in about equal proportions among all Britons who have an opinion on the issue (excluding those who don't know): 33% want house prices to go up, 29% want them to go down, and 31% want them to stay at around the current level.
Predictably, there is a significant divide between home-owners – who stand to gain from the value of their homes rising – and non-home-owners, who could still be looking for an affordable home to buy. About half (44%) of home owners would like prices to go up. This contrasts with 51% of people who rent who would prefer prices go down.
There is also a divide between young and old people in Britain. Britons between the ages of 25 and 39 prefer house prices going down to them going up by 45%-32%, while for Britons aged over 60 - a demographic group much more likely to own a home - the preference is inverted, at 36%-20% in favour of higher prices.
