Phillip Ireland and his wife, Joy, who has multiple sclerosis, have been trying to sell their four-bedroom house in the village of Oxton, Birkenhead, for more than a year. They want to downsize to a flat with better wheelchair access for Mrs Ireland, 58.
Now retired, the couple both worked in local government when they bought their 1970s detached home 12 years ago for £78,000. But uncertainty over local public sector jobs has led to just six viewings in the past 13 months, and no offers. Even lowering the price from £199,950 to £189,950 and offering to pay the stamp duty have failed to attract a buyer in an area where prices have fallen by up to 30 per cent since 2007 and where sales have fallen by 69 per cent.
Mr Ireland, 64, said that the process is extremely frustrating: “Although we don’t have to move right away — and luckily we don’t have to worry about a mortgage, as we paid off ours last year — we would like to get it resolved.
“Joy’s mobility is getting worse and we want to live somewhere that’s easier to manage and further south so we can be near our children. At the moment we feel a bit like we’re in limbo.”
The couple are not alone: Mr Ireland added that their neighbour had been trying to sell his house for more than a year.
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“Merseyside is so heavily dependent on public sector jobs that the sorts of people that are interested in our house, ie, like us 20 years ago, are just the sort that are worried about their jobs and so don’t want to commit. It is a real worry.”