The search for affordable housing in the UK has stirred a surge in traffic for MovingSoon.co.uk – the company who specialise in working with providers of affordable housing.

MovingSoon.co.uk allows visitors to search affordable homes by region, city or property types, using search functions such as ‘no deposit required’, ‘no admin fees’ and ‘DSS/housing benefit accepted’. Those seeking shared ownership opportunities and retirement housing can also easily tailor a search.

The organisation has reported reaching more than 1 million page views in a twelve month period for the first time in its history.

The Merseyside-based business says the increase in visits is indicative of a changing market and expects further growth as rising accommodation costs boost the number of people searching the web for lower cost homes.

A reported surge in people looking for shared ownership, no or low deposit required, social housing and affordable retirement homes has driven a number of visitors to MovingSoon.co.uk.

The firm has revealed a spike in visits as it approaches its fifth birthday.

Managing Director Paul Malone, says: “Search activity on the web for shared ownership and affordable homes is growing rapidly.

“Because we were one of the first to market in the sector our site is often in the first page of online search results and that’s resulted in one million page visits during the last 12 months.”

Property listings come from across the country with some of the UK’s largest landlords using the site. They include Places for People, Affinity Sutton and Housing & Care 21. Together, those organisations have funded more than 200,000 homes across the UK.

Social landlords use the site to attract new tenants that may not otherwise approach them directly. The property portal is operated from The Sheds co-working space on The Wirral.

Paul added: “Lots of people don’t think that social housing is for them, that they aren’t eligible or they just don’t know how to apply.

“The site removes these barriers and makes it very easy for people to search on a specific criteria. We’re also in discussions with a number of private landlords that either accept DSS or don’t require a deposit from a new tenant whether or not they are in work.”