Fewer buyers quit London than anytime in past decade

Fewer buyers quit London than anytime in past decade


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Hamptons analysis of Countrywide estate agency data shows that the rate of London outmigration has slowed to the lowest level since 2013.  

Londoners purchased 5.7% of homes sold outside the capital in 2024, down from a peak of 8.2% in 2022 and 7.8% last year.  The return to the office, combined with falling house prices in the capital, has reduced the number of moves taking place.

In number terms, Londoners will purchase a total of 57,020 homes outside the capital this year.  

This is 45% or 46,200 fewer than in 2021 when London outmigration numbers previously peaked.  Pre-Covid, Londoners bought an average of 70,060 homes outside the capital each year, meaning purchase numbers are down around 19% compared to the 2015-19 average, partly due to fewer people moving home in general.

First-time buyers made up a record 31% of Londoners purchasing a home outside the capital this year, a figure that has more than doubled since 2013.  Overall, London-based first-time buyers bought 17,680 homes outside the M25 this year, 69% more than a decade ago. 

However, mover numbers have fallen by 41% over the last decade.  Those trading a home in the capital for one outside purchased a total of 24,710 homes in 2024, down from 41,850 in 2014. 

Strong house price growth outside the capital over the last decade has reduced the amount of extra space London leavers can buy.  Average property prices have risen 39% outside the capital over the last decade, compared to 26% growth in London. 

In some areas of the capital, particularly in central London, property prices have fallen over that period, limiting London leavers’ purchasing power and reducing their incentive to move.        

In search of more affordable areas, those leaving London (movers and first-time buyers) are moving further than ever before.  The average London leaver (excluding second home buyers and landlords) moved 33.1 miles outside the capital this year, 19% or 5.3 miles further than the 2015-19 average.

However, whilst relatively high mortgage rates and a lack of equity growth have meant that those trading a home in London for the country are moving further than ever before, first-time buyers are staying closer to the M25.  

The average London leaver selling a home in the capital now moves 45.4 miles, 13.7 miles further than pre-Covid.  Meanwhile, the typical first-time buyer moved 25.5 miles this year, down from a peak of 26.3 miles in 2023.

Brentwood has seen the biggest rise in the share of buyers from London compared to pre-Covid (2019).  Here, Londoners purchased 47% of homes sold in 2024, up from 23% in 2019.  Rushmoor, Colchester and Epsom & Ewell follow. 

In fact, all of the top 10 areas that have bucked the trend and seen the biggest increase in London buyers since 2019 are located in the East or South East of England.  Many of these are more affordable locations with good transport links into the city, popular with first-time buyers. 

Wychavon, in the West Midlands, is the first local authority outside the South of England that’s seen the biggest rise in London buyers and sits in thirteenth place.  Here, Londoners purchased 11% of homes sold this year, up from 3% in 2019.      

Blackpool, where Londoners purchased 9% of homes sold this year, up from 4% in 2019, is the first local authority in the North of England on the list, recording the twenty-fourth largest increase in the country.  However, most of these London buyers were purchasing an investment property.  The average gross yield on a new buy-to-let purchase in Blackpool reached 10.1% this year, compared to 5.7% in London.

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