The average person moving from the city bought a home a record 63 kilometres outside the city between January and June
More Londoners are buying homes further away from the capital in a bid to get better value for their money.
The average person moving from the city bought a home a record 63 kilometres outside the city between January and June, as per a report from broker Hamptons International. That is around 10 km further than in 2019 and 65% more than the typical FTB.
Four years on from the pandemic and many city workers have settled into a new normal when it comes to going into the office, according to Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons. In a bid to make their equity stretch further, movers continue to make longer distance moves out of the capital.
UK households are facing a mix of cost pressures sparked by higher interest rates and a cost-of-living pressure.
More than 25% of households trading a London home for one outside the capital moved more than 161 km away in the first half, significantly higher than the 17% average logged between 2015 and 2019.
Gedling and North Somerset – two local authorities based in the Midlands and western England, respectively – have seen those looking to leave London more than double in the first half of 2024 compared with the same period 2023. London leavers accounted for 48% of people purchasing a home outside the capital between January and June.
Still, a long-running rise in FTBs leaving London was restricted in the first-half of the year, as a steady drop in mortgage costs and lower house prices encouraged more prospective homeowners to buy in the capital.
What’s more, FTBs leaving the capital are increasingly seeking out more affordable areas near London instead of moving further afar. The share of FTBs leaving London for the countryside has halved from its 6% peak in 2020.
Lower mortgage payments have pulled the cost of buying back below renting, bringing relief to those looking for their first home in the capital, Beveridge added.