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May 19, 2025
We’ve been tracking UK housing concerns for the past 10 years, and can reveal that issues that were significant back in 2015 continue to plague the market today in 2025. While traditional housing problems like affordability and availability persist, concerns around the leasehold system, stamp duty, and the buying and selling process have risen fastest over the past decade, contributing to a worsening picture for homebuyers and aspiring first time buyers.
Since 2015, the specific issues with the sharpest increase in the proportion of UK adults rating them as very or somewhat serious problems are:
While these issues have seen the sharpest increases, the long-standing top concerns remain in 2025. The ability of first-time buyers to get on the housing ladder (81%), house prices (81%), saving for a deposit (79%), the availability of housing (75%) and the quality of housing (65%) still top the list of major problems for UK adults, just as they did in 2015.
The situation is particularly bleak for aspiring first-time buyers as demonstrated by the aspiration to own a home, which has fallen to its lowest level in over 10 years. Only 64% of non-homeowners now aspire to own, down from 71% last year and below the 2013 figure of 65%.
Aspiring first time buyers’ concerns mirror the national average but are often more acute regarding house prices (88% vs 81% of UK adults), availability of housing (87% vs 75%) and the ability to get a mortgage (77% vs 65%).
A significant 42% of aspiring homeowners believe now is a bad time to buy a home; considerably higher than the 31% of UK adults who feel the same. Financial issues are cited as the main barriers to getting on the ladder by 82% of aspiring homeowners, including the cost of living, mortgage costs, economic uncertainty, and the rising cost of stamp duty.
Regionally, Wales and Scotland show elevated concerns for some issues compared to the UK average .
Commenting on the findings, Paula Higgins, Chief Executive of the HomeOwners Alliance says:
“These figures should ring alarm bells in government. It’s unacceptable that Brits wanting to buy a home continue to be stumped by not enough homes and sky high house prices. And if those perennial barriers weren’t bad enough, Brits are increasingly worried about the stamp duty grab on their hard-earned cash, a complex and unfair leasehold landscape, and a slow and expensive home buying and selling process.
On the concerns raised by first time buyers, Paula added:
“Hearing from first time buyers everyday here at the HomeOwners Alliance we knew that for many people the prospects of homeownership was bleak, but to discover that aspiration to own is at its lowest level for over a decade – with just 64% now saying they want to own, down from 71% last year and even lower than in 2013 – is a shock. The dream of homeownership is slipping further out of reach and fading fast for an entire generation.“
Here at the HomeOwners Alliance we carry out regular research to make sure housing concerns are on the Government’s agenda and to help empower homeowners and aspiring homeowners with expert advice and helpful services for all the key moments of buying, selling or owning your home. For example
Methodology: This is the 9th annual Homeowner Survey. For this analysis, housing concerns have been tracked over 10 years (2015-2025). The latest research was conducted by Opinium on behalf of HomeOwners Alliance, surveying a nationally representative sample of 2,000 UK adults aged 18+ between 1–5 April 2025. The sample included 1,269 homeowners and 474 aspiring homeowners.
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