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The sector needs to do better at explaining different housing options
Improving how the sector communicates with potential customers is just as important as increasing delivery, writes Bjorn Howard
Our sector’s focus on delivering new homes has, in my opinion, gone up a notch in the past couple of years, not just in the ambition to increase housing stock but also in offering variety and choice.
However, as volume and range increase, there is another issue we must address: ensuring people are aware of and understand the housing options available to them.
The challenger bank Aldermore recently conducted a survey of prospective first-time-buyers, it looked at a range of housing options and sought to gauge how well people understood them.
It found that 52% of respondents didn’t have a good understanding of the Help to Buy equity loan. It also discovered little awareness of other options available, like shared ownership.
“We uncovered widespread misunderstanding of shared ownership and how it works”
As a result, almost all (nine in 10) of the people surveyed believed it was difficult to get on the property ladder and nearly two-thirds thought it was unachievable.
The findings of this research ring true with our own analysis of the housing market and highlight how important it is to educate people about their options, particularly as providers strive to increase the volume and variety of homes available.
In our two reports on shared ownership, we uncovered widespread misunderstanding of this housing option and how it works – not just from prospective homeowners but, worryingly, from people who actually bought homes through the scheme as well. In last year’s report, for example, 60% of the shared ownership buyers we surveyed didn’t know they could move from their existing shared ownership property to another one in the same way that traditional home movers do.
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Aldermore’s survey shows how jargon, lack of communication and complexity are creating barriers to prospective first-time buyers in accessing schemes designed to help them. Our research suggests that the problem is more endemic and not limited to Help to Buy.
This is undoubtedly another fundamental challenge for the housing sector. But the good news is it’s one that is easy to address compared with some of the others we face – providers have already made great strides in hitting build targets and ensuring adequate provision of affordable housing.
In comparison, improving how we communicate to potential customers is wholly in our gift but that doesn’t mean it is any less critical.
Enquiries into our shared ownership scheme increased by 25% following the launch of our second report.
“We are tackling potential misconceptions head on”
The research we did was pivotal in focusing our message on the key stumbling blocks shared ownership needs to overcome, but it also produced actionable insight that we have been able to take forward into our own marketing and sales approach.
As a result, we are tackling potential misconceptions head on as part of the initial discussions we have with prospective buyers.
We would not claim to have created a perfect formula but the campaign has certainly taught us some important lessons about how to make the journey easier for our customers.
These, I believe, are lessons that can be applied across the sector – whether its shared ownership, Help to Buy or making people aware of the affordable and social rent options that might be open to them.
Recent government policies like scrapping the borrowing cap on local authorities and removing the obligation for shared ownership buyers to pay stamp duty have put us in an even better position to deliver the homes our country needs.
The final piece of the puzzle will be ensuring that people know of and understand the housing option that is right for them.
Bjorn Howard, chief executive, Aster Group
