Younger home buyers are driving the demand in Britain for waterside properties with many actively looking to live neat water within five years, new research has found.
The 2018 waterside survey from Strutt & Parker says that the popular perception that it’s mostly older retirees who aspire to live by the water for health and relaxation reasons is not necessarily correct.
It found that over a quarter, some 26% of under 35s and 36% of 35 to 39 year olds are actively looking to live near water within five years, along with and 27% of 40 to 44 year olds. This compared to just 12% of over 45s.
Whilst people either aspired or did move to a waterside location at the average age of 43, the results demonstrated that 41% adults want to move to be closer to the water before the age of 35.
Although retirement is the life stage in which people are most likely to aspire to move to a waterside location, some 25%, it also found that 21% would like to move while children are young or still living at home and 10% before having children.
The rise in flexible working is helping to facilitate the move to waterside living among young professionals, according to the research. Among employed adults already living in waterside properties, 49% work from home. This rises to 61% of employed adults aged 30 to 34, and 78% aged 40 to 44.
Like last year’s survey showed, the lure of waterside living remains strong and most people do see it as an obtainable aim. Among those that do not currently live near to water 57% said they would like to live by the water in the future, with 29% hoping to do so in the next 10 years and 28% at some point.
There was a jump in the number of people who wanted to make the move to the waterside in the nearer future, with 18% saying they are actively looking to move close to water in the next five years. This is up from 12% in 2017.
Among under 45s who would like to live near water in the future, 33% believe it’s very much obtainable and 40% somewhat obtainable. In comparison the majority of over 45s, some 56%, say it is not obtainable.
Among those who live near the water, or would like to in the future, the preferred type of waterside to live near to is the seaside/coast at 52%, followed by lakes/lochs at 17% and rivers/estuaries at 13%.
There has been an increase in those who desire to live near to docklands at 7% compared to 1% in 2017, perhaps reflecting the increasingly dynamic and aspirational nature of dockland regeneration areas such as those in London and Liverpool.
