Bottom of the ladder? Londoners lag behind in property jargon knowledge
Londoners are especially in the dark when it comes to understanding the processes and the terminology involved in buying a home, new research has found. Zoopla has revealed that 21 per cent of those in the capital don’t feel confident in their property-buying knowledge and, of those, 28 per cent said this lack of understanding had even prevented them from buying a home.
The research revealed confusion with many everyday terms used in a property purchase, proof that getting on the ladder is something many Londoners can’t even contemplate. Amazingly, 30 per cent couldn’t accurately define what a mortgage is, compared with 20 per cent nationally, and, when questioned about stamp duty, Londoners performed the worst of all regions, with 43 per cent answering incorrectly or unable to answer. Some 57 per cent did know what stamp duty is, compared with an average of 73 per cent nationally.
When questioned about which property buying-related terms they were secure with, 47 per cent of those in the capital cited “fixed-rate interest” (61 per cent across the country); 39 per cent were confident on “surveying” (the UK average was 53 per cent) and 33 per cent could describe “completing” (46 per cent nationally). Of the more nuanced terminology, Londoners yet again scored below the national average. Only seven per cent could define “gazundering” (in contrast to 10 per cent nationally); 17 per cent knew what “disbursements” were (compared to a UK average of 15 per cent) and 15 per cent of Londoners could outline the meaning of a “covenant” (17 per cent nationally).
While the majority of sharedownership properties are in London, only 29 per cent of Londoners feel confident talking about what the scheme involves compared with 37 per cent nationally. And other buyer schemes, such as the Mortgage Guarantee Scheme and Lifetime ISAs, were as much of a mystery. In the UK, a whopping 90 per cent couldn’t confidently describe more than half the schemes listed.
The only question where Londoners scored higher than the national average was in defining the term “buying schemes”; 22 per cent knew this, in contrast to 17 per cent for the rest of the country. With such a stark knowledge gap, it’s unsurprising that 88 per cent of Londoners who have bought a house found the processes and terminology hard to understand.
“With the average deposit Londoners need to secure their first home hitting £144,000 and growing, it’s no surprise that those living in the capital have the largest property knowledge gap of any region, as the idea of owning a home perhaps feels further out of reach for them,” says David Copley, consumer expert at Zoopla.