"Stamp duty continues to be a major block on movement for families up and down the country. While some reforms have rightly targeted investors and second homeowners, this upfront tax remains a huge financial barrier to everyday homeowners"
- Paula Higgins - HomeOwners Alliance
New research shows that longstanding problems like affordability and housing availability remain, while worries about the leasehold system, stamp duty, and the buying and selling process have increased sharply over the past decade. These issues have contributed to a more difficult situation for homebuyers and those hoping to buy their first home.
The HomeOwners Alliance has been tracking housing concerns across the UK for the last 10 years. Their analysis reveals that many of the challenges identified in 2015 persist in 2025. However, the share of UK adults who see certain issues as very or somewhat serious problems has risen notably between 2015 and 2025:
Concerns about the leasehold system grew the most, rising 22 percentage points from 42% in 2015 to 64% in 2025.
Stamp duty rates became a much bigger worry, with 64% rating it as a serious problem in 2025, up 13 points from 51% in 2015.
The home buying and selling process also drew more concern, reaching 60% in 2025 compared to 51% in 2015.
Despite these sharp increases, the most persistent issues remain top priorities in 2025. The ability of first-time buyers to enter the housing market (81%), house prices (81%), saving for a deposit (79%), housing availability (75%), and housing quality (65%) continue to be major problems for UK adults, just as they were in 2015.
First-time buyers
According to the research, the outlook is particularly grim for aspiring first-time buyers. The percentage of non-homeowners who want to own a home has dropped to its lowest level in more than a decade. Currently, only 64% of non-homeowners aspire to own, down from 71% last year and below the 65% recorded in 2013.
Concerns among first-time buyers often mirror those across the country, but are more intense when it comes to certain issues:
House prices worry 88% of aspiring buyers, compared with 81% of all UK adults.
Housing availability concerns 87% versus 75%.
The ability to secure a mortgage troubles 77%, compared to 65% nationally.
Nearly 42% of aspiring homeowners believe now is a bad time to buy a home, significantly more than the 31% of UK adults who feel the same. Financial challenges are the main obstacles for 82% of aspiring buyers, including the cost of living, mortgage expenses, economic uncertainty, and rising stamp duty costs.
Regionally, some areas report higher levels of concern than the UK average:
In Wales, worries about negative equity (63% vs 47%), stamp duty (72% vs 64%), and first-time buyers’ ability to enter the market (90% vs 81%) stand out.
Scotland shows more concern about housing availability, with 82% viewing it as a serious problem compared to 72% across the UK.
The south of England expresses greater concern about the leasehold and freehold system than the UK overall, at 70% versus 64%.
“These figures should ring alarm bells in government," commented HomeOwners Alliance chief executive Paula Higgins. "It’s unacceptable that Brits wanting to buy a home continue to be stumped by not enough homes and sky-high house prices. And if those perennial barriers weren’t bad enough, homebuyers also have to navigate the complex and uncertain leasehold landscape."
"Despite government’s leasehold reforms, whether recently passed into law, pending or promised, action has been slow, and frustration is growing — particularly among leaseholders trapped in homes they have little control over."
"Stamp duty continues to be a major block on movement for families up and down the country. While some reforms have rightly targeted investors and second homeowners, this upfront tax remains a huge financial barrier to everyday homeowners. It discourages them from moving and penalises first-time buyers, who have seen their tax-free thresholds cut."
"And the buying and selling process in England and Wales is a well-known joke. In a world where almost everything can be done efficiently online, it’s frankly ridiculous that buying a home is taking longer than ever. According to TwentyCi, the average time to buy a property in 2024 was 122 days, up from 94 days just ten years ago. That’s a 30% increase and a clear sign the system needs urgent modernisation.”
Regarding the concerns of first-time buyers, Paula concluded, “Hearing from first-time buyers every day here at the HomeOwners Alliance, we knew that for many people, the prospects of homeownership were bleak, but to discover that aspiration to own is at its lowest level for over a decade — with just 64% now saying they want to own, down from 71% last year and even lower than in 2013 — is a shock. The dream of homeownership is slipping further out of reach and fading fast for an entire generation.”
