The new build sector is sharing in the remarkable recovery of the UK housing market – a rebound fueled in no small part by the experience of lockdown.

Across the housing market, the number of sales agreed in September 2020 was 92 per cent higher than in the same month last year, while Savills new homes reservations in Q3 represented the highest quarterly total ever recorded.

City living is still an attraction but more rural locations are currently the biggest beneficiaries of this increased demand as buyers embark on the search for greater space and access to the countryside. Since the first national lockdown, buyers of Savills new-build homes have moved 7 per cent further than those who bought last year. Pent-up demand and the stamp duty holiday are also key drivers of current sales.

As our map shows, areas that have seen double the number of sales agreed in the four weeks to 21 September compared with the same period last year include key commuter markets such as Guildford and St Albans as well as more rural hotspots like Aberdeenshire and South Hams.

Sales agreed in the four weeks to 21 September 2020

^{Source: Savills Research using TwentyCi}

The market is undoubtedly moving fast, but how far can buyers influence it?  

New-build developments could be well placed to adapt to the shift in changing work-life preferences prompted by coronavirus. With more people working at home, over half of respondents to our buyers survey in August specified that a separate space to work has become more important to them. This increased to 84 per cent of respondents aged under 40.

Design flexibility will be key to allow spaces to adapt when needed. This will be particularly important in smaller family houses and flats where members of the household may need separate space at the same time.

Unsurprisingly, an appreciation of outside space has also become more important to buyers – cited by more than three-quarters of survey respondents with school-age children. So integrated green areas within developments, particularly in more urban centres, is likely to be a focus for demand.

Meanwhile the quest for more room both inside and out has seen the proportion of Savills new-build buyers who are upsizing jump from 34 per cent of the market in 2017 to 50 per cent in the first half of this year.

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Further information

Contact Gaby Foord

Contact Savills Residential Development Sales