90% of home owners worried about cost of living

95% of home owners are worried about rising gas and electricity bills, with 92% concerned over rising food prices and 85% about rising fuel prices, according to a new survey from thinkproperty.com, a leading consumer property portal.

Over 80% of respondents to the survey said they were worried about talk of a ‘credit crunch’ that could affect house prices, with nearly 40% commenting that economic conditions would make paying their mortgage or rent difficult this year.

According to new figures from the Ministry of Justice, home owners are right to be concerned about their financial situation, as the number of repossession orders being issued is up by 17%. Nearly 60% of home owners feel that the Government should provide help to anyone struggling with mortgage payments according to thinkproperty.com’s survey of 500 home owners nationwide.

Shockingly, of those respondents that had applied for a mortgage recently, a massive one in six was turned down. Nearly 70% said that they wouldn’t look to buy a property for at least 12 months’ and over 20% said they wouldn’t sell their current property for at least a year, indicating that the market could remain stagnant for a while to come.

Of those home owners that would consider selling property now, 20% said they would sell their current home to buy a cheaper property, with 11% wanting to sell up to avoid negative equity. Seven per cent would move into rented accommodation, coming off of the ‘property ladder’ entirely.

Mark Goddard, Managing Director of thinkproperty.com comments: “For millions of home owners, a property is an essential asset as well as a source of financial security, so it’s easy to see that evidence of a ‘credit crunch’ and a decrease in house prices, would leave many people confused and worried about what the future now holds.

“It is vital that home owners keep up with their mortgage payments. For many households across the UK, this may mean severely cutting back on other costs, such as holidays, or even subsidising income by taking a lodger or second job. As extreme as cost cutting may be, losing your home would be even worse.

“For those home owners who simply cannot stretch their budget any further, selling your current property to move to a smaller home may be the best thing to do. Although, at the moment, you may get less money for your home than you would have last year, remember that the cost of your next home should be proportionally lower too.

“The bottom line is that home owners need to be realistic with their finances during the next 12 months, which will be full of uncertainty and that could mean that house prices continue to fall. If you really cannot afford your mortgage, investigate the potential to sell, price realistically and either look to downsize, or rent a property, rather than risk repossession.”