Increase in Londoners buying homes in Midlands

A GROWING proportion of Londoners moving out of the capital to buy a home are heading north, analysis suggests. Hamptons International, which carried out the research, said stretched housing affordability in southern England has resulted in more London leavers moving to the Midlands and the North of England.

It estimates that in 2019, one in seven (13%) of those moving out of London to elsewhere in Britain bought homes in the North, including the North West, the North East and Yorkshire and the Humber.

This proportion of London movers heading north is up from eight per cent in 2016 and just one per cent in 2009.

Just under seven in ten (69%) London movers are estimated to have moved to elsewhere in southern England in 2019 including the South East, East Anglia and the South West. This is down from 77 per cent in 2016 and 92 per cent in 2009.

The report estimates that one in six (15%) London movers headed for the Midlands in 2019, up from 12 per cent in 2016 and one in 20 (5%) in 2009.

An estimated one per cent of London movers went to Wales and two per cent moved to Scotland in 2019 – figures that were unchanged from 2016.

Overall, the report estimates that London leavers bought 73,000 homes outside the capital, marking a four per cent fall compared with 2016 (75,690).

Despite the recent fall, the figure is still much higher than a decade ago when 41,090 homes were bought by people moving away from London.

The average age of someone from London purchasing a home outside the capital fell to 39 – down from 47 in 2009.

Nearly a quarter (24%) of those who moved out of London in

2019 to buy a home were first-time buyers, the report said.

This is an increase from 22 per cent in 2016 and is considerably higher than the 14 per cent recorded in 2013 who were first-time buyers.

The average London leaver spent £358,650 on their home outside the capital.

Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons International, said: “The number of Londoners purchasing a home outside the capital has fallen by four per cent since the most recent peak of 2016.

“2016 was the prime time for Londoners to cash in on their property and move to the country. This was when the price gap between a home in London and one elsewhere in Great Britain was at its widest.

“However, since then house prices outside of London have risen faster than those in the capital and this has resulted in more London homeowners staying put.”