When
Britain voted to leave the European Union on 23rd June 2016, many predicted the
UK housing market was heading for trouble.
Then
Chancellor, George Osborne, warned house prices could fall by as much as 18%.
Economists talked about collapsing confidence, falling transactions and a
potential housing market shock. There were fears that buyers would disappear,
lending would tighten and uncertainty would freeze the market for years.
For
Huddersfield homeowners, it was a worrying time, yet 10 years on, the
Huddersfield property market tells a very different story.
Before
I start, I will not be discussing whether we should have left or remained in
the EU, just the facts of what has happened to the property market.
Whilst
the last decade has certainly not been smooth, the property market did not
collapse in 2016. In fact, the past 10 years have shown just how resilient the
British, and indeed Huddersfield, housing market can be. And perhaps more
importantly, in those years, it has changed what it means to sell, buy, rent
and own a home in Huddersfield.
Since
that Brexit vote, homeowners have lived through:
- Three years of Brexit uncertainty
- Covid lockdowns
- The stamp duty holiday boom
- Record low mortgage rates
- The race for space and home offices
- Double digit inflation
- The Liz Truss mini-Budget mortgage shock
- Rapid interest rate rises
- How people search for property
- And the rise of social media and digital
estate agency marketing
At
several points during the last decade, the housing market looked as though it
might genuinely seize up. Yet people in Huddersfield still moved home. Families
still upsized. Retirees still downsized. Landlords still bought and sold. Young
couples still tried to get onto the property ladder. Life carried on. That is
because property markets are not driven purely by politics or economics. They
are driven by people and life events.
The
headlines back in 2016 suggested Brexit itself would define the next decade of
the housing market. In reality, Brexit became just one chapter in a much bigger
story.
Looking
at the data nationally, average UK house prices stood at £196,100 around the
time of the Brexit vote. Today, they sit closer to £279,900, a rise of 42.8%
Meanwhile, Huddersfield homeowners have also seen local house prices move
significantly over the last decade, although the journey has been far from
linear.
In
Kirklees, house prices have risen from £134,100 to £204,200,
a
rise of 52.3% in the last decade.
But
prices alone only tell part of the story. Transaction levels matter just as
much. Because a property market is only truly healthy if people are actually
moving.
In
the three years before Brexit in Kirklees, an average 479 homeowners moved home
per month, since the vote it
has
been 499 homeowners per month.
And
this is where the last decade becomes fascinating.
Despite
all the political and economic shocks since 2016, the market repeatedly
adapted. Buyers did not permanently disappear. Instead, they adjusted their
expectations, borrowing power and behaviour to match changing conditions.
However,
what has changed dramatically is the nature of the market itself.
The
Huddersfield property market of 2026 behaves very differently from the
Huddersfield property market of 2016.
Ten
years ago, buyers had less information and fewer tools at their fingertips.
Most homeowners relied heavily on estate agents for market knowledge. Rightmove
existed, of course, but buyers were not glued to instant property alerts, local
Facebook groups, TikTok property videos and daily housing headlines in the way
they are today.
Today’s
buyers are permanently connected. They can compare dozens of Huddersfield homes
within seconds. They can track price reductions in real time. They can check
sold prices, mortgage rates and local market trends before even stepping foot
through the front door.
Also,
Huddersfield buyers now have more choice, which means they can afford to be
more selective. That has made the market more competitive and, in many cases,
less forgiving for overpriced homes. To give some context to this …
In
June 2016, there were 1,004 Huddersfield homes for
sale
on Brexit vote day, today it is 1,521.
(Huddersfield
– HD1-5, HD7-8).
More
choice, more competition and so in simple terms, Huddersfield homes no longer
“sell themselves”.
The
Huddersfield properties that tend to perform best today are usually the ones
that are marketed strongly online with professional photography and most
importantly, priced realistically from day one. Why? Because buyers now know
instantly when a property looks overpriced compared to similar homes nearby.
Another
huge change over the last decade has been the growing importance of lifestyle.
Covid
and working from home accelerated trends that were already beginning after
Brexit. For some buyers, Huddersfield increasingly became a strategic lifestyle
decision, offering more space and value for money than larger cities, whilst
still benefiting from strong rail links to London.
For
many households, priorities shifted:
- More space
- Home offices
- Gardens
- Quality of life
- Commute flexibility
They
became more important than simply living close to an office five days a week.
At
the same time, affordability pressures have intensified for many local buyers.
Higher house prices, rising rents and stricter mortgage affordability tests
have created major challenges, especially for younger households trying to buy
their first home.
Rents,
nationally, have risen sharply since 2016. Average UK rents have increased from
around £1,238 pcm in 2016 to over £1,884 pcm today.
The
average rent in Huddersfield has risen from
£599
pcm to £816 pcm in the last 10 years.
Landlords
themselves have also faced wave after wave of taxation and regulatory changes
during the last decade. In truth, many buy-to-let investors would probably
argue that government housing policy has had a far greater impact on the rental
market than Brexit itself.
And
perhaps that is the biggest lesson from the last 10 years.
When
Britain voted for Brexit in 2016, many assumed politics alone would shape the
future of the housing market. Instead, the Huddersfield property market was
transformed by a combination of economics, technology, lifestyle change,
digital transparency and shifting buyer behaviour.
The
market did not stand still. It evolved. Today’s Huddersfield property market is
faster, noisier, more transparent and more competitive than the one homeowners
knew on referendum day in June 2016. Yet despite all the uncertainty, all the
headlines and all the economic turbulence, one thing has remained remarkably
consistent.
People
still want to move home.