Young property buyers swap the city for the shires
SOARING property prices and fears of violence are forcing younger people out of cities and towns and into the countryside, research has found.
The average age of those relocating to the country has fallen below 40 for the first time. In 2008 it was 47, but last year it fell to 37.
Aneisha Beveridge of Hamptons International said: “Changing priorities such as starting a family, having another baby or seeking a better quality of life have been the traditional drivers.
“But with housing affordability a problem, more movers are heading to the country sooner, leapfrogging rungs of the property ladder.”
Mark Godman, of London-based removal company Gentleman & A Van, says more people in their 30s are quitting the capital.
Littered
He said: “Until 2008, 95 per cent of our moves were within London and the M25, with only five per cent of clients moving to the countryside.
“Today, one in four moves are clients leaving the capital for the country. They’re seeking a calmer and more affordable place.”
As well as young families and firsttime buyers, Mr Godman is seeing more interest from entrepreneurs and the self-employed in their late 20s and early 30s, who are able to work from home.
Factors driving the millennial exodus include air pollution, overcrowding, noise, competition for school places, dirty, littered pavements and the perception of high crime rates in cities.
Jemma Scott, of agents The Buying Solution, who moved from London to rural Buckinghamshire, said: “It used to be, ‘Have baby, move to country’, but these days it’s more, ‘Have absolutely had enough of the city, move to country’.”
In London, market analyst Hometrack says the average property costs £479,800. It is £423,500 in Cambridge, £408,100 in Oxford and £276,800 in Bristol.
In the past decade, property prices in cities across England and Wales have risen by 61 per cent, compared with 25 per cent in rural areas.
Rather than going from a flat to a terraced house, people moving to the country head straight to a large home where they will live for years.