86.5% of Northampton Homeowners are over 35 - The affect of their Brexit vote on the Northampton Property Market

Well it’s just over a month now since the Referendum vote and we have had a chance to reflect on the momentous decision that the British public took. 

I'm sure many of you watched my video I recorded a week after the results 'Brexit What's Next for the Northampton Property Market' , now we're a month down the line we can start to see a clear picture. 

In case you weren’t aware, the residents of the Northampton Borough Council area went against the National mood and voted as follows ..

Northampton Borough Council       Remain Votes           43,805             (41.6% of the vote)

Northampton Borough Council       Leave Votes              61,454             (58.4% of the vote)

Northampton Borough Council Turnout         72.6%

I have been reading there is some evidence to indicate younger voters were vastly more likely to vote Remain than their parents and grandparents and, whilst the polling industry's techniques may have been widely criticised, following them getting both the 2010 General Election and the recent Brexit vote wrong, anecdotally, many surveys seem to suggest there was a relationship between age and likelihood to support leaving the EU.

Interestingly, the average age of a Northampton resident is 37.1 years old, which is below the national average of 39.3, which might go someway to back up the way Northampton voted? What I do know is that putting aside whether you were a remain or leave voter, the vote to leave has, and will, create uncertainty and the last thing the British property market needs is uncertainty (because as with previous episodes of uncertainty in the UK economy – UK house prices have tended to go down).

Interestingly, when we look at the Homeownership rates in the Northampton Borough Council area, of the 56,754 properties that are owned in the Northampton Borough Council area (Owned being owned outright, owned with a mortgage or shared ownership), the age range paints a noteworthy picture.

Age 16 to 34 homeowners      7,584    or     13.4%  (Nationally 9.6%)

Age 35 to 49 homeowners    18,206    or     32.0%  (Nationally 29.2%)

Age 50 to 64 homeowners    16,747    or     29.5%  (Nationally 30.7%)

Aged 65+ homeowners         14,217    or     25.0%  (Nationally 30.5%)

So, looking at these figures, and the high proportion of older homeowners, you might think all the Northampton Borough Council area homeowners would vote Remain to keep house prices stable and younger people would vote out so house prices come down- so they could afford to buy?

But there's a risk in oversimplifying this. The sample of the polling firms are in the thousands whilst the country voted in its millions. Other demographic influences have been at play in the way people voted, as early evidence is starting to suggest that class, level of education, the levels of immigration and ethnic diversity had an influence on the way the various parts of the UK voted.

So what I suggest is this – Don’t assume everyone over the age of 50 voted ‘Leave’ and don’t assume most 20 somethings backed ‘Remain’; because many didn't!