UK homebuyers remain committed to purchasing a property but are less willing than buyers overseas to change their spending, borrowing or property expectations to make a move possible, according to research from Cotality.

The property data and analytics business found that UK consumers showed less appetite for compromise than buyers surveyed in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, with affordability remaining a central concern.

Across all five markets, 69% of respondents said they would reduce lifestyle spending to help fund a purchase, while 65% would consider taking a smaller mortgage and 59% would look at buying a smaller property.

Among UK respondents, those figures fell to 59%, 53% and 42% respectively.

Cotality suggested the difference could partly reflect the smaller size of UK homes, continuing pressure on household finances and the larger deposits already required by many purchasers.

Jim Driver, managing director at Cotality UK, said: “The important message from this research is that buyers haven’t stepped away from the market, but there is less room for compromise than we see in other countries.”

CERTAINTY TAKES PRIORITY

The Consumer Sentiment Report also found that certainty is becoming increasingly important during the homebuying process.

In the UK, 66% of respondents said they would favour certainty over speed when purchasing a home, with buyers seeking clearer costs, greater transparency around mortgage decisions and more confidence that transactions will reach completion.

Cotality said the findings supported measures intended to provide buyers, sellers and lenders with better information earlier in a transaction, including proposals under the government’s homebuying and selling reform programme.

The business has been working with government, lenders and other industry participants on areas including digital property information, open property data standards, home energy data and wider transaction reform.

Driver said: “The UK housing market asks consumers to make one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives without consistently providing the information they need at the point they need it.

“Whether through digital property information, improved data sharing or clearer visibility of a home’s condition and energy performance, we believe better information creates better outcomes. The more certainty we can provide buyers and sellers, the more efficiently the market can operate.”

LENDERS URGED TO FOCUS ON AFFORDABILITY CLARITY

Cotality said the research also pointed to an opportunity for lenders to give borrowers greater clarity over affordability and what options may already be available to them, rather than relying solely on future interest rate reductions to improve demand.

Driver said: “The opportunity for lenders isn’t simply to wait for rates to fall. It’s to help customers understand what is possible today. Buyers have told us exactly what they’re looking for: clarity, confidence and certainty. Those organisations that can provide that support throughout the journey will be the ones that succeed as the market evolves.”