Survey suggests softening attitudes to development as housing supply runs low

Perceptions of newbuild development have altered during the course of the financial crisis, says smartnewhomes.com, which has conducted a national ‘Nimby’ survey to assess current views of residential homebuilding across the UK.

The phrase ‘not in my backyard’ (Nimby) became synonymous with the homebuilding industry during the construction boom of the nineties, with local development one of society’s most contentious topics. However, a poll of over 3,000 consumers, conducted by smartnewhomes.com in September, has uncovered softening attitudes to newbuild in the current climate, as many people start to acknowledge the growing lack of supply across the country.

Over 55 per cent of all respondents to the survey disagreed that there had been ‘too much’ development in their local area in the past (Graph 1), with over 75 per cent citing only a moderate or very little amount over the last two years (Graph 2).

Smartnewhomes.com believes more accommodating attitudes to development have arisen due to current perceptions of availability – a quarter of all respondents questioned were not confident they would be able to find a good home in their preferred location if they were to move.

Respondents’ views on the amount of new development local to them were the same regardless of whether they were looking to move within the year or never intended to move again. Only eight per cent of all respondents had friends, children or relatives currently looking to buy homes in their area – many citing a lack of quality homes at affordable prices as the reason why.

Out of all the UK regions covered in the survey, respondents in Scotland were the least likely to move – 41% stating that they never planned to move. Scottish residents were also the least confident of finding a home in their area. Respondents in the North of England were the most likely to move in the next 1-5 years (65%), followed by the South East (48%). These two regions also had the most positive views on past development – 60% of each disagreeing that there had been too much development in their area.

David Bexon, Managing Director of SmartNewHomes.com, comments: “Local development is always likely to be an emotive subject within local communities but the comprehensive lack of homebuilding over the past two years has had a wide-reaching impact.

“Pre-credit crunch, the massive demand for housing necessitated a high level of construction. During this period settled homeowners in certain parts of the country might have witnessed an increase in local development, which may at the time have seemed excessive to them. However, many of these people may have had to look for a new home since this time, and are now facing the significant barriers brought on by the current supply shortfall.

“This in turn has resulted in some having to look outside their preferred location in order to find the best quality homes, which may be a discerning factor in softening attitudes towards local new build development.”

For more information and to search the database of new homes visit: www.smartnewhomes.com