After the pandemic produced the largest wave of departures from the capital in a generation, Londoners spent a record £54.9 billion on property outside the city in 2021.
According to data provided by real estate firm Hamptons, London home purchasers spent more money outside the capital in 2021 than in any other year since 2007, when £36.6 billion was spent.
The main driver of the shift was a huge increase in remote working, especially at the start of the year when England was engulfed in its third lockdown, prompting many people to flee the capital for commuter towns, where larger homes with gardens are more affordable.
According to Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons, the year 2021 “is expected to signal the highest outmigration from London in at least a generation.”
“In the last 20 years, more homeowners have purchased property outside of London than those who own in the capital now.” City emigrants have altered the landscape of not only the commuter belt, but also smaller towns and communities throughout Southern England.
And in a Covid environment, this has gotten progressively entrenched.”
The property market in the United Kingdom has had a year of highs and lows, with the onerous challenge of navigating through the third shutdown in England and comparable limitations around the country.
As a result, London-based buyers bought more than 112,700 properties outside the city this year, the biggest since 2007, with first-time buyers accounting for nearly a quarter of the total.
According to Hamptons, London sellers spent £18,980 less on their new house outside of the capital than they did on their previous home, with the average “London leaver” selling their home for £525,910 and paying £506,930 on their new home.