The Catch-22 that's clogging up the housing market? The over-50s sitting in half-empty houses while young families struggle to find homes that are big enough

Nearly three quarters of over-50s have a home with more than three bedrooms — even though 80% live alone or with one other person.

And the vast majority seem entirely happy with the status quo, according to a survey by Regency Living.

Yes, 93% of those who live in larger properties have no plans to downsize. They’re financially comfortable, have enough space for their friends and family to stay, and they like their neighbourhood etc etc.

'So what?' you may ask.

Well, here’s the rub. More than half of wannabe upsizers are struggling to climb up the housing ladder, with a shortage of suitable homes partially to blame, according to a separate survey by Regency Living.

Some 22% of upsizers claim higher mortgage rates and a lack of suitable homes at affordable prices are the biggest factors stopping them from moving. And 18% cite a shortage of suitable homes in their preferred area and the higher cost of living.

These two surveys may be small — with just over 1,000 respondents each — but they provide a snapshot of the logjam in the housing market.

Regency Living’s sales and marketing director, Tim Simmons, says ‘the decision to remain in larger family homes once the nest has emptied is causing a significant bottleneck across the property market, as it limits the supply of stock available to those looking to upsize’.

It’s a Catch-22 situation, isn't it?

Housing market off to ‘strongest start in three years’

The housing market has got off to a stronger start than in 2024 or 2023, with the number of sales agreed up 12% on the same time last year.

Buyer demand is 13% higher than a year ago, and there’s 10% more homes for sale than this time in 2024, figures from Zoopla show.

With the end of the stamp duty holiday looming, first-time buyer appetite jumped by more than a third in November and December in price bands where the tax will rise the most from April. But the property portal claims that concerns about a possible cliff edge in buyer demand when the tax thresholds change are ‘overdone’.

Executive director, Richard Donnell, says: ‘The first few weeks of each year tend to provide a clear indication of how the rest of the year is likely to unfold. 2025 has started well…which bodes well for market activity over the rest of the year.’

Sales of London trophy homes jump

Sales of £5m-plus mansions in London jumped at the end of last year, led by one-off even bigger-ticket sales above £10m.

Nearly 130 £5m-plus homes were sold in the last three months of 2024, according to Savills’ figures. That’s 25% higher than the previous three months - and up 8% on the year.

In news that will make most people’s eyes water, the average price paid above the £5m mark hit £11m, the highest average value recorded since 2019.

‘The cautious mentality that we observed ahead of this summer’s general election and the Autumn Budget began to unwind during the final couple of months of 2024,’ says Nick Maud, director of research at Savills.

Rents drop for first time since pre-Covid

Average rents of homes coming to the market outside London have dropped for the first time since before the pandemic, says Rightmove.

Tenants can breathe a sigh of relief that advertised rents outside the capital fell by 0.2% to £1,341 per month in the last three months of 2024.

Rightmove’s property expert Colleen Babcock says: ‘A first quarterly drop in rents is the culmination of several months of improvement in the balance between supply and demand. While new tenants are still paying more than they were at this time last year, the pace of growth continues to slow.’

But the same cannot be said for London, where average rents of homes being marketed continued to increase. They hit a record of £2,695 per month over the same time period - a 0.1% increase on the previous quarter.