Pent up demand from buyers will be disappointed by homeowners unwilling to sell this year, according to research by Legal and General Mortgage Club.

Nearly two thirds (61 per cent) of property owners surveyed said they definitely have no plans to sell in 2020. But more than half (53 per cent) of potential homebuyers want to buy, in what L&G described as “unprecedented levels of demand”.

Just 4 per cent of homeowners are definitely looking to sell this year, according to the research.

The figures point to problems for buyers who could be forced into bidding wars over fewer properties, or struggling to step onto or up the housing ladder. They also highlight the need for the government to accelerate plans to build 300,000 homes a year.

Recent research from Rightmove pointed to high levels of demand for property following the easing of the lockdown, pushing asking prices to a new record high.

Some of the biggest mismatches in supply and demand are in London and the South East. In the capital, 69 per cent of respondents planned to buy property in 2020, but just 12 per cent of homeowners said they would consider selling, and just 4 per cent definitely planned to sell this year.

In the South East, 57 per cent of respondents still plan to buy in 2020 but just 12 per cent of homeowners are willing to sell this year.

It is a similar story throughout the UK. In Wales half of respondents were planning to buy, but just 11 per cent of homeowners said they were planning to sell. In Scotland 49 per cent of respondents wanted to buy and 17 per cent to sell.

The smallest gap between buyers and sellers was found in the South West, where 52 per cent of people planned to buy and 23 per cent planned to sell.

New builds are predicted to benefit from an increase in demand from first-time buyers, with a growing number planning to use the Help to Buy scheme to step onto the housing ladder.

L&G Mortgage Club research found 13 per cent of buyers intend to use Help to Buy who didn’t plan to use the scheme before the crisis. In total, 54 per cent of first-time buyers now want to use the HTB scheme, according to the study.

Kevin Roberts, director at Legal & General Mortgage Club, says: “From first-time buyers to landlords, we are seeing unprecedented demand from consumers post-lockdown eager to move ahead with home moves and buy-to-let purchases.

“Yet our research shows thousands of homeowners are still reluctant to sell in 2020. This mismatch between buyers and sellers has the potential to dry up UK housing stock, making it harder for homebuyers to find a new place to call home.

While the government has already announced its plans to ‘build, build, build’, Roberts says that delivering on its commitments to build thousands more new homes “will clearly need to be a priority to meet the demand from hopeful homeowners and landlords”.