Houses top flats for buyers’ needs

HOUSES in London’s prime suburbs have been holding their value more strongly than flats during the coronavirus outbreak as buyers reassess their lifestyles and search for more space.

During the second quarter of 2020, the average outer prime London house value slipped by 0.5 per cent, while the average flat price was down by 1.6 per cent, real estate adviser Savills said.

This bucks a general trend seen over the past five years, where flats have, on average, tended to out-perform houses.

Outer prime London covers areas such as Wimbledon, Putney, Clapham, Richmond, Islington, Hackney and Hampstead.

Savills’ research looked at the performance of the top 5 to 10 per cent of the housing market by value over the past three months.

Across the prime London market, 97 per cent of Savills’ agents reported an increased demand for homes with a garden or outdoor space, 82 per cent have seen more demand for a separate place to work from home, and 71 per cent report the appetite to be near to a local park has grown.

Savills also found evidence that a growing number of people are looking to buy top-end properties away from London.

More than four-fifths (83 per cent) of Savills’ agents reported increased demand for village homes, and 90 per cent greater demand for country locations.

Across its offices, staff have reported an uptick in buyers from London – with nearly a third (32 per cent) of new applicants in the country coming from London compared with 21 per cent last year.

“Market activity has been buoyed by pent-up demand, in part at least, but we have been surprised at the extent to which lockdown has made people start to reassess their housing needs and, more pertinently, take the decision to act upon it,” said Lucian Cook, the head of residential research at Savills.

“This said, buyers appear to be keeping their feet on the ground when it comes to what they will pay, meaning sellers must retain realistic price expectations if this momentum is to be sustained.”

‘Lockdown has made many people start to reassess’