New buyers looking for outside areas and green spaces as the domestic housing market gets set to open RICS and Ulster Bank Residential Market Survey, May 2020 Restrictions weren’t lifted on estate agents in Northern Ireland during May like they were in England, but buyers are already looking ahead to what kind of properties will be desirable over the next two years, according to the latest RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) and Ulster Bank Residential Market Survey.

In an extra question included in the May survey, contributors were asked for their views and for information on what is coming up when speaking to buyers, regarding potential shifts in the desirability of certain features of properties over the next two years (owing to recent events).

81% of respondents across the UK felt that there will be an increase in desire for properties with gardens or balconies; 74% predict an increase in demand towards homes located near green spaces; and 68% are of the opinion that properties with greater private and less communal space will become more desirable.

At the other end of the scale, 78% of respondents sense there will be a fall in the appeal of tower blocks and 58% feel properties located in highly urban areas will be less enticing. Interestingly, the majority expect no change in the desirability of homes located near transport hubs.

Samuel Dickey, RICS Northern Ireland Residential Property Spokesman, says: “As we await the further lifting of restrictions in Northern Ireland, it is unsurprising to hear that what potential buyers want from their homes is shifting due to their experiences over recent months and that gardens, balconies and proximity to green spaces are increasingly desirable.

“This should provide some useful insight for Government and developers of new housing requirements. It also ties in with our own experience that whilst the market has been effectively shuttered, people have been considering their future housing requirements, and that there is some pent up demand.”

Terry Robb, Head of Personal Banking at Ulster Bank, said: “There is mortgage demand but at the minute valuations aren’t being completed on a physical basis and desktop valuations only cover a proportion of the mortgage market.

“To get the housing market to operate to some degree of normality, we need to see physical valuations happening again. This is something that we expect to see in the near future and will help the market start to function again.”

Looking at the survey’s regular indicators, there was no significant changes to activity metrics in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, where restrictions on estate agents were not removed in May.

In Northern Ireland, the three-month sales expectations balance did though move marginally into positive territory, perhaps in anticipation of the market reopening. And a net balance of +8% of Northern Ireland respondents expects sales activity to be higher in 12-months’ time.

Commenting on the UK market, Simon Rubinsohn, RICS Chief Economist commented: “Following the reopening of the housing market in England, pre-Covid sales that were in the pipeline are now largely going through. This is encouraging but it remains to be seen how sustained this improvement will prove. Much will inevitably depend on the macro environment and, in particular, the resilience of the jobs market as the furlough scheme unwinds. For the time being respondents to the survey see the trend in transactions being broadly flat.

“Alongside this, there are already signs that those looking to buy a house are responding to the conditions created by the pandemic by seeking out properties with gardens or balconies and nearer green space. These and other similar features are likely to increasingly command a premium over higher density urban locations according to respondents to the survey.”