New Cotality research shows UK buyers have less room to compromise on mortgage size and property than global peers
UK homebuyers have not abandoned the market, but they have far less room to manoeuvre than their counterparts in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, and the industry needs to respond accordingly.
That is the central finding of the Cotality Consumer Sentiment Report, a research series examining how buyers across five markets are adapting to the cost of homeownership in 2026. Based on a Q2 survey, the report reveals marked differences in buyer behaviour – ones that Jim Driver (pictured top), managing director of Cotality UK, argues are structural rather than a matter of preference.
Just 42% of UK buyers said they would consider purchasing a smaller home, compared with 59% across all five markets. Only 53% said they would consider taking a smaller mortgage, against a cross-market figure of 65%. Driver told Mortgage Introducer the numbers reflect decisions already made, not resistance to change.
“I wouldn’t read that as UK buyers want bigger houses,” he said. “I’d read it as we’re already at the point where they’ve made those decisions.”
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Already at the limit
House price growth relative to wages has compressed the space for compromise well before buyers reach the market. Those still searching, Driver argues, are already stretching as far as they can.
"The house price increases compared to salaries is taking people into the point where they want to get on the property ladder," he said. "To get on the property ladder, they're already making those decisions."
Driver pointed to the experience of younger buyers he knows in the Midlands as illustrative, and acknowledged the position would be considerably harder in London. First-time buyers are purchasing properties smaller than they want, often with work required, as a means of accessing the market at a manageable price point rather than waiting for something they genuinely cannot afford.
He also urged caution about reading too much into direct cross-market comparisons. The survey was conducted in Q2, and conditions have shifted considerably since – including in Australia, where Driver noted the housing market had changed significantly in the weeks prior to October. "It really depends at what point you ask the question when you compare these markets," he said.
Certainty over speed
The report's most significant finding for the UK is the premium buyers place on certainty. Some 66% of UK buyers said they would choose certainty over speed when purchasing a home – a preference Driver described as entirely rational given the structural realities of the property market in England and Wales.
"We’re not quick in the UK at getting deals over the line," he said. "I think UK buyers are sort of saying, ‘Look, I can't really impact the time it's going to take. I'm happy it's going to take six months. I don't mind waiting, provided it's going to happen’."
The solution, in Driver's view, lies in front-loading information. He described the current experience of receiving material in piecemeal fashion as a kind of death by a thousand cuts – a sequence of minor disclosures that collectively derail transactions that might otherwise have proceeded.
"If we could give everybody all the data, all the knowledge, everything on day one – all the goods, the bads, the indifference, everything in the first minute – then I can look at it and say, ‘don't like that’, and I wouldn't start," he said.
He pointed to Scotland's binding offer model as a functioning example. Because buyers receive a condition survey and full property information upfront, the offer they make carries real commitment. Cotality has been engaging with government, lenders, and industry stakeholders on the government's home buying and selling reform – a legislative programme in England and Wales aimed at improving transparency and providing buyers, sellers, and lenders with better property information earlier in the transaction process.
Driver believes front-loading searches and seller information packs could meaningfully reduce fall-through rates, even if the chain itself remains a structural constraint on overall speed. Mortgage professionals following the progress of the home buying and selling reform will recognise how directly those goals connect to broker conversations about transaction certainty.
What lenders can do now
Rates alone are not the answer, and the report is clear on this. Driver argues lenders are better placed than any other party in the transaction to act in the interest of the market rather than the individual deal – a distinction that matters given the scale at which major lenders operate.
"Lenders are spreading their risk over thousands," he said. "Maybe lenders could do more to give the buyer, or to help the buyer, get everything upfront. If the lenders were motivating people to have a condition survey, really understand about the property, then maybe that would help."
Most participants in a property transaction – estate agents, brokers, conveyancers – are primarily focused on the deal in front of them. The intermediary channel in particular, as brokers continue to navigate affordability conversations with increasingly stretched clients, stands to benefit from lenders taking a more proactive role in building buyer confidence earlier. Lenders, with their scale and portfolio-wide perspective, have the capacity to take a longer view, and Driver believes that is where the competitive opportunity lies.
"Buyers have told us exactly what they're looking for – clarity, confidence and certainty," he said. "Those organisations that can provide that support throughout the journey will be the ones that succeed as the market evolves."
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