Single buyers hit by supply imbalance - claim

Property supply appears weighted toward couples and small families, an agent has claimed.

Analysis by self-employed agency brand eXp UK analysed current residential property listings for sale across Great Britain and segmented the available properties by the number of bedrooms they offer to see what size of property is most readily available across the various regions of Britain.
 
It found that three-bedroom homes are the most commonly available properties on Britain’s housing market, but that anyone looking to either upsize or downsize could struggle due to insufficient stock levels. 

The research shows that of the 686,606 homes currently for sale on the British market, three-bedroom properties are the most prominent, accounting for 35.1% of all listings. 

Two-beds account for 28.8% of market stock, while four-beds make up 17.8%. 

However, scarcity levels increase when it comes to one-bed, making up 8.8% of listings, or homes with five or more rooms at 7.2%.

Just 2.3% of listings are for studios, according to the research.

 5+-bed (7.2%), and studio (2.3%) homes, scarcity levels increase.

On a regional level, three-bed homes are the most common across nine of 11 British regions, with the highest regional proportion found in the East Midlands where they account for 43.1% of available stock. 

Only London and Scotland go against the grain when it comes to availability of property stick and in both regions it’s two-beds which are most readily available. 

For buyers who are looking for a studio home, their best chance of finding an appropriate property comes in Scotland where they currently account for 4.5% of available listings. 

One-bed buyers are advised to search in London where they make up 19.6% of listings, and the capital is also home to the highest regional proportion of two-bed properties at 36.1%, eXp said. 

For the best chance of finding a four-bed home, eXp suggests heading to the East of England where they make up 21.1% of the market.

It found the best level of stock for homes with five beds or more in the South East at 8.3%.

Adam Day, head of eXp UK, said housebuilders have prioritised three-bed homes but suggest this has left a gap for upsizers and downsizers due to a lack of stock.

He said: “Maybe our national housing market is biased towards those who have coupled-up and sired offspring? 

“But if we want to encourage downsizers, in particular, in order to free up larger homes, we need to have an appropriate level of stock to tempt them with in the first place.”