Living through lockdown over a third of Brits have a greater sense of community with their neighbours and are positive about their homes.

With Brits confined at home a survey from Halifax reveals that 31% of Brits are more positive with their property and 36% have a greater sense of community with their neighbours.

Communities are coming together with social distancing parties across the country, Clap for Carers and the Coronavirus lockdown has helped neighbours feel closer than before.

This has occurred despite 66% of Brits spending months in a property without dedicated work space which is helping first time buyers and home movers change their priority for a future purchase.

The impact of the Coronavirus lockdown could be a shift in the way many people work, including from home more often in the future and they may look for a new property.

Prices higher for those that move

The lockdown has changed priorities for buying a home although location remains the most important consideration, the proportion has reduced from 39% before the lockdown to 31% after.

People now view having extra space as being more important with 8% before the to 18% only a few weeks after the lockdown and this could have implications on the type of property people buy and price they are willing to pay.

The Halifax table shows the property type average prices in 2015 and 2020 with the change over the last 5 years.

Property Type	2015	2020	Change
Terraced	£179,890	£260,603	45%
Flats	£209,882	£292,135	39%
Semi-detached	£197,869	£263,752	33%
Bungalows	£210,718	£275,899	31%
Detached	£316,728	£409,679	29%
All properties	£215,303	£296,495	38%

Over the last five years terraced properties have increased in value the most, rising 45% since 2015 to an average value of £260,603 this year with flat up 39% and value of £292,135.

Older equity release buyers can stay in their home to benefit from their local community by accessing money using a lifetime mortgage for home and garden improvements such as bi-folding doors or conservatory extension.

For remortgage buyers happy to stay in their home, they can switch to a preferential mortgage rate reducing the monthly repayment costs and have money to enjoy their local community.

First time buyers may be driving prices higher as 35% select terraced houses followed by 22% buying semi-detached properties and only 10% detached houses.

Majority have no plans to move

At home during the lockdown, younger people have the least space with 70% of those aged under 25 with no dedicated work area and 8% of all surveyed have no outside space or garden.

Despite these limitations 71% have no plans to move from their property increasing to 86% for those living in a bungalow, 75% in a semi-detached house, 71% terraced and 53% in flats or apartments.

The decision for many not to move is good news for buy-to-let landlords and they will be able to rely on the continued rental income in the future.

Staying at home means people interact with the community and neighbours depending on the property types with 43% living in detached houses experiencing more ties, 41% in semi-detached houses, 36% in terraces and 26% in flats and apartments.

For those that are moving house, 30% said it was due to a lack of space and 22% said that after spending time under lockdown at home they are more aware of the faults.

Only about 3% of people planning to move changed their minds and of these 37% cited changes in their finances was the reason with 21% saying they now realise how great their home was and want to stay.

What are your next steps?

Talk to our London City Mortgage brokers for advice if you remortgage your existing home and want the best mortgage deal or release capital, buying your first home, moving home or a buy-to-let investor.

Learn more by using the equity release calculator, mortgage monthly cost calculators, and property value tracker chart. Start with a free mortgage quote or call us and we can take your details.

For older homeowners releasing equity from your property, our LCM mortgage advisers can recommend the lifetime mortgage, accessing wealth to repay an interest only mortgage or buy a more expensive home.