So the historical Brexit vote is more than a month behind us and we’ve had a chance to mull over the result. I imagine that you will have read the article Fish Need Water wrote on the morning of that momentous day.

To read a copy of that post, please visit our blog here. Today, I would like to progress my train of thought from that initial article and try to see the bigger picture, as the dust settles on the UK, and the Peckham Property Market.

The residents of the Southwark Council area went against the National mood and voted as follows:

Southwark Council Turnout was 66.1%

Apparently, it is a fact that younger voters were more inclined to oppose a Brexit, compared to their pro-Brexit parents and grandparents. It is certainly the case that, anecdotally, the survey results that I read seemed to support this idea of a relationship between age and likelihood to support leaving the EU.

Interestingly, the average age of a Peckham resident is 33.7 years old, somewhat below the national average of 39.3, which might help to explain the way Peckham voted and that home ownership in this group is higher than the national average according to a study from Durham University. Whichever camp you are in, the vote to leave has created uncertainty and the last thing the British property market needs right now is uncertainty. Previous episodes of uncertainty in the UK economy have tended to result in a drop in UK house prices.  That said July has been our best month for Sales and Lettings this year (and comparable to the same period last year) so it still remains to be seen if there is any short term effect.

When we look at the rates of home ownership in the Peckham SE15 , of the 8,586 properties owned either with a shared ownership scheme, a mortgage or outright, the age range paints an interesting picture:

Given the high proportion of older homeowners in the Southwark Council area which includes Peckham, you might think they would all vote remain, to ensure stability in the housing market and that younger people would vote out, to keep house prices down, allowing them to buy a property. This would be a massive oversimplification. People do not, of course, vote for or against something like Brexit, based on the impact it will have on house prices. Housing is a factor in the decisions of voters, of course, but one factor among many.

So don’t think automatically that everyone over the age of 50 voted to leave and don’t assume most 20 somethings backed the remain team; because many didn’t!

For more on the Peckham Property Market – read my original article in the  Property Blog and you can make your own mind up.