Big themes are emerging in the housing sector which will impact what is built, bought, sold and rented. Our Housing Futures research programme focuses on what people want and every year we survey individuals about how they live today and how they intend to live in the future.

The reports, vlogs and blogs from this page provide analysis and insight into the mainstream housing market, the London rental market and the private sector retirement market.

The story so far:

In the UK, nearly 100 years ago, 77% of households lived in rental properties, with just 23% in home ownership. By 1971, ownership versus renting had almost reached equilibrium. In recent years this trend has reversed. The UK housing market has undergone many changes. Some have resulted in immediate, tangible changes, whilst others, such as the evolution of ownership vs rental, have been slower to make a noticeable impact and almost invisibly evolve markets – we call these creeping trends.

In 2012, as a newly created research team at Strutt & Parker, we set about the challenge of identifying the creeping trends that in 10 years’ time are likely to have a significant impact on our housing requirements in the UK.

Through speaking with industry experts, carrying out exhaustive global literature reviews, conducting intimate focus groups and implementing extensive online surveys, we have uncovered some new themes on the UK housing market, such as:

• The shifting family structure within a single household
• The influence of technology and the importance of connectivity
• The changing desire for proximity to amenities and services

The research allows us to assess the aspirations of UK residents when it comes to their future homes, and thereby providing an insight into the value drivers within the housing sector.

The publications in this extensive, ongoing programme serve as a snapshot of our results so far and whilst the following pages are broad in scope, we believe that they have relevance to all those engaged in the housing market, whether investors, developers, operators, buyers and sellers, renters, local government or the public sector.

This project work is an extensive and ongoing undertaking and underneath the headlines further trends are emerging. We hope that you enjoy reading about our findings so far, and welcome any thoughts that you might have.