‘I am fleeing the countryside for London because of lockdown’

A typical response to the pandemic has been to swap cities for the countryside. But coronavirus has also brought a wave of “reverse movers” who are ditching the sticks and buying in the capital after lockdown.

From July to September, one in four homes sold in the capital were bought by people based outside London, according to exclusive data from Hamptons International estate agents.

This share is a rise of 4 percentage points on the same period in 2019 and the biggest in the data’s history.

In June, Charlotte Davies, 41, and her husband decided to sell their Oxfordshire cottage and move back to the capital with their two children.

Mrs Davies, who used a pseudonym, said lockdown compounded the country’s isolation. “Conversations are all about children, gym lessons or maybe golf, that is it,” she said. “It is like a time warp, and Covid accelerated that for me. I couldn’t travel or see my family; at least in London I have friends I can see in the street.” The Davies family have bought a flat in west London. Everything is now walking distance, rather than a 40-minute drive, she said.

Martin Bikhit, of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Kay & Co, the agent that sold the couple their home, said 23pc of registrations to buy in London were from the Home Counties. Tandridge in Surrey has the largest share of decampers, according to Hamptons. Of the wannabe buyers in the area who registered in the past three months, 53pc were looking in London. It was followed by Epping Forest in Essex.

Demand is strongest among downsizers who want to be closer to family and medical services, said Mr Bikhit.

Some are taking the opportunity to sell during the “mini-boom”. Sian and Richard Barker moved from London to Clifton, Bristol, in 2000. Now that their children have left home and live in London, they are retiring to the capital.

The areas with the most non-London applicants are largely leafy and well-heeled. Kingston upon Thames ranks highest. Between July and September, a third of house- hunters there came from outside the city. Lambeth, Wandsworth, Richmond upon Thames and Islington are also in the top 10.

Some exasperated country residents are buying for other reasons. Jo Eccles, of buying agency SP Property, said parents were buying Clapham and Notting Hill apartments for their adult children “following months living all together in their country houses”. Budgets range from £1.3m to £2m.