UK homebuyers are looking at the new build market and buying properties off-plan because of the chronic lack of supply in the resale market, Assetz has reported.

Recent research by Knight Frank shows that 60% of off-plan buyers in London are now owner-occupiers.

Off-plan means buying a property based on drawings alone, before any building work has started and, in some cases, before any land has been acquired by the developer. Typically favoured by young and risk-friendly investors with access to reasonable amounts of capital, buying off-plan can produce large returns in a short period of time, Assetz asserts.

Outside of London the housing shortage in city centres such as Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool the housing shortage is resulting in an increase in sales of part-completed schemes, where construction has started and a show home is available.

Stuart Law , chief executive of Assetz, said: “We first witnessed a renewed interest in off-plan 12 months ago