Rising price and pay fears leave Scots in '˜property trap'

Rising prices and economic uncertainty are leaving many homeowners stuck in a property they do not want.

Rising prices, increased lets and economic fears are impacting the housing market.

According to a report from Bank of Scotland. one in five homeowners would like to move house within the next five years.

However, financial barrier and uncertainty are making it almost impossible for many to move on up the property ladder.

The report indicates that many are instead opting to remain where they are and extend or improve their properties aiding a stagnant market.

According to the bank’s research, one-fifth of homeowners say the struggle to find the right property within their budget is the key blocker for buying their next home. While one in three say they would need a significant pay rise to move.

Graham Blair, mortgages director at Bank of Scotland, said: “There are a number of factors that seem to be making Scottish homeowners want to stay put, from the cost of moving, to a lack of the ‘right type’ of homes coming on to the market and we have seen more homeowners putting off the move and looking to add value to their homes instead.

“Whilst this isn’t great news for the housing market where sales have remained flat or fallen over the past few months, encouragingly some homeowners are still motivated and want to move and with little concern over recent base rate rises we may start to see more movement early next year.”

Additional costs are another factor in putting homeowner off moving. Two-fifths claimed the system discouraged them from even looking to make a move.

20% said they did not want to work with an estate agents and 15% said they were too aware of economic issues to feel comfortable moving.

The latest house price index put the average price of a property in Scotland in September 2017 at £144,924 – an increase of 3.1 per cent on September in the previous year.

The volume of residential sales in Scotland in July 2017 was 8,725 – a decrease of 5.7% on July 2016, and a decrease of 18.3% on the previous month.

Research indicates that first-time buyers are the hardest hit with the price of an average first-time buyer property up over 4% in a year.