The company has seen a 39% year-on-year increase in self build finance enquiry levels throughout April, May and June from homeowners looking to secure their position on the property ladder in a faltering housing market.
In addition, the average number of monthly enquiries for self build finance in the first half of 2009 is 33% higher than average number of monthly enquiries in the first half of 2008. BuildStore also reported a similar increase last quarter – interest in its specialist mortgages between January and March was up 27% on 2008 – demonstrating that more homeowners are now turning to self build in the current climate.
The company, which provides an end-to-end service for the self build, renovation and home improvement market, sees further evidence that prospective self builders are looking to take advantage of the increase in land availability and falling land prices and have noted a recent increase in the number of plots of land being sold. June 2009 saw a 43% increase in the number of plots sold, compared with just three months earlier, and more than double the number sold in January. BuildStore’s land database, PlotSearch, (www.plotsearch.co.uk) has also seen an increase in land enquires, with new subscriptions in the first six months of 2009 double the total for the previous six months (July - December 2008).
Raymond Connor, chief executive of BuildStore commented: “We have always recognised the appetite for self build, but with the current market conditions, there is now a real demand from frustrated homeowners wanting to build their way out of the recession.
“With certain conditions appearing to favour the self builder, such as increased land availability, falling land prices, and plenty of tradesmen looking for work, it is vital to have the right type of funding available. BuildStore continues to work with a number of lenders to widen the availability of self build lending to help meet the current demand from prospective homebuilders.”
BuildStore has recently welcomed new entrants to its self build mortgage panel - the Hanley Economic Building Society and Bath Building Society, both of whom are providing advance stage payment self build mortgages exclusively through Buildstore.
