Property data is our passion, so as the results from the 2021 census start to get released we get very excited at JDG. It really helps us understand the changing housing market better.
This week dataloft released its latest update which is all about home ownership. The census began recording mortgage status in 1991. The 2021 census marks the first time the data has shown that among homeowners, those that are mortgage free are now in the majority.
It shows that 33% of households own their home outright compared to 31% back in 2011. Even more interesting the number of people with a mortgage has dropped by 4% to 29%. We all expected this to be higher, after all, we all have mortgages on our homes still. However, the recent historically low-interest rates have enabled many savvy homeowners to pay off their mortgages faster.
More people than before though are choosing to private rent and maybe this is reflected in the drop in people getting a mortgage. It certainly appears that way. We have seen over the years that for many people, rental is actually a preferred choice as it gives them freedom and flexibility to move with their work.
Back in Lancaster, sadly the results haven’t yet been released at a local level – hopefully, they will come out soon. Back in 2011, 28.4% of people owned their homes outright. I wonder if this will have also grown? As soon as we hear, we will let you know! One thing we can be confident in though is that the privately rented sector will have grown – we would put a bet on that!
What do you think? We would love to know!
Thanks for reading
Michelle