Only 5% of home sellers have owned their home for less than three years, it has been revealed.

The research by Connells highlighted how homeowners are moving less frequently, with short-term moves currently at their lowest level on record.

The 5% who have owned their home for less than three years is down from 8% in 2016 and 15% in 2006 – when house prices were rising more quickly and the financial barriers to moving were lower.

Moving costs

The estate agency group attributed the trend to higher moving costs and claimed this includes the average mover in England currently spending £5,950 on Stamp Duty.

It added that higher mortgage rates have created another layer of caution, with the move from ultra-low rates not only reducing affordability but also leaving some households waiting to see whether borrowing costs come down before making their next step.

At the same time, weaker price growth has left recent buyers with less equity to carry into their next purchase, while the prospect of selling for less than they paid creates both a psychological barrier and a financial one.

Aneisha Beveridge, Research Director of Connells Group, said: “Homeowners are increasingly finding that moving no longer pays.

This matters because a healthy housing market depends on people being able to move when their lives change.”

“High Stamp Duty costs, higher mortgage rates and weaker price growth have created a cocktail of reasons why many households are staying put for longer than they otherwise would.

“The result is that homeowners are less likely to make small, incremental steps up or down the housing ladder; when they do move, it increasingly needs to be a bigger, longer-term decision.”

Housing flexibility

She continued: “This matters because a healthy housing market depends on people being able to move when their lives change.

“Whether it’s having children, changing jobs or downsizing later in life, households need the flexibility to adapt their housing to their circumstances.

“Instead, we’re seeing growing financial barriers make those moves harder to justify.”

She went on to explain that lower churn doesn’t only weigh on housing transactions, it reduces the efficiency with which the existing housing stock is used and can act as a drag on wider economic growth and productivity.