The survey also found that 7% have even put off having children because their property simply isn’t big enough.
Miles Shipside, director and housing market analyst at Rightmove, said: “Many ‘secondsteppers’ have had to shelve their family planning and home-moving ambitions since the onset of the credit-crunch over five years ago.
“Typical first-time buyer properties such as flats and smaller houses serve a purpose in getting a foot on the housing ladder but don’t tend to be suitable family homes in the long term.
“This next step up the ladder is proving a difficult one for many to make.
“Second-steppers are the ugly ducklings of the housing market; overlooked for many government incentives, struggling to protect their equity if they bought near the peak and now crammed into a home too small for their growing family needs.”
Rightmove’s survey found that 29% of those who intend to buy in 2013 will be second-time buyers. This represents a 3% increase on last quarter and indicates second time buyers still make up a sizeable proportion of potential buyers.
Despite making up such a large part of the market second time buyers face additional challenges.
The survey found that 11% of those trying to sell to trade-up are trying to do so despite the fact that their property is now worth less than they paid for it.
Shipside said: “Diminished equity will seriously affect a second-stepper’s ability to raise a deposit that will attract the most competitive mortgage rates and may even necessitate a second visit to the ‘Bank of Mum and Dad’ in order to move.”
However Shipside said that all is not lost as the Funding for Lending scheme could boost transaction levels this year.
Shipside said: “As the Funding for Lending Scheme fuels a more competitive lending market then we’d hope to see an increase in those getting onto the first rung of the housing ladder.
“This in turn would be a major boost to those second-steppers who urgently need to trade-up.”
