The number of people who cite the risk of losing their job as a barrier to homeownership has halved in a year, reflecting a “resilient” housing market ahead of the end of the government’s furlough programme, says the Building Societies Association.

Around 34% of people cited job loss as a barrier to homeownership compared to 45% just three months ago and 68% in September 2020, says the trade body’s latest quarterly Property Tracker survey.

This comes despite the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, or furlough programme, closes at end of the month.

There are 1.6 million people on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, according to HMRC data released earlier this month.

However, the association acknowledges that the end of this scheme “may lead to additional redundancies”.

The unwinding of the stamp duty holiday taper also appears not to have dented confidence, with 26% saying that now is a good time to buy a new home, and 25% disagreeing, giving a net 1% confidence in the housing market.

The final phase of the stamp duty holiday – with the threshold having being decreased from £500,000 to £250,000 on 30 June – is due to end on 30 September.

From 1 October, the threshold will return to £125,000 – or £300,000 for first-time buyers purchasing a property worth up to £500,000, concluding a tapered end to the current stamp duty holiday.

Prior to that, on 1 July, the stamp duty nil-rate threshold was reduced from £500,000 to £250,000 until the end of September.

The BSA’s report also found that expectations of house prices continuing to rise remains high, with 46% expecting further price increases in the next 12 months.

BSA head of mortgage and housing policy Paul Broadhead says: “These latest results are a positive sign that despite the end of some of the coronavirus support measures this month, it appears that the housing market will continue to remain buoyant.”

The association survey also found that 72% of consumers said the energy efficiency rating of a property was important when looking to buy a new home, with 21% of these saying it’s very important.

When asked what would encourage them to buy an energy-efficient home, 56% of consumers said a lower council tax rate, while 53% were swayed by cheaper energy tariffs. A cheaper mortgage and evidence that the energy efficient improvements will add value to the home were strong incentives cited by 43% and 39% of consumers, respectively.

The majority of people think some energy-efficient improvements will add to a property’s value, such as replacing the windows and doors 73%, and upgrading the central heating system, 70%.

However, only a small proportion of homeowners have made these changes – just 15% have replaced their windows and doors and 11% have upgraded their central heating system in the last year.

The BSA’s Broadhead adds: “It’s very encouraging to see that the energy efficiency rating of a property is high on consumers’ radar when buying a new home.

“However, while people can recognise the tangible value of making environmental improvements, it’s disappointing that so few have actually made changes to their own property.

“If government is serious about meeting its emissions targets, more information and effective incentives are required.

“With COP26 just weeks away, now is the time to stand up and make stronger commitments and actions to improving the energy efficiency of our housing stock.”

The BSA says its September Property Tracker survey was carried out online between 2 and 3 of September, with a representative sample of 2041 adults.

It adds additional fieldwork was undertaken between 7 and 8 of September, with a representative sample of 2027 adults.