Numbers moving 'at highest level since 2007' - except in London

The number of owners selling up and moving home is at its highest level since 2007 with one exception - London. 

The number of homemovers - defined as current owners moving house - across the UK increased by 2.0 per cent to an estimated 370,300 in the past year, according to Lloyds. 

The slight increase could be a result of continued low mortgage rates and high demand for homes, which have made it easier for some to take the next step on the housing ladder. 

Since hitting a market low of 315,000 in 2009, the number of homemovers has grown by 18 per cent or 55,300. 

However, the current number is still 43 per cent below the level of 653,700 seen in 2007.  

“House price increases will have boosted equity levels for many home owners, enabling movement along the housing ladder. For the first time, movers are choosing to pay an average deposit of over £100,000, with Londoners putting down nearly double this” says Andrew Mason, Lloyds Bank mortgage products director.

However, there is one glaring exception to the UK-wide rule - London.

Lloyds says high house prices in the capital have adversely impacted the market in the capital, with numbers falling by 6.0 per cent to 22,600 in the past year – the only region to have a decline in numbers.

The south east has the highest number of movers at 65,400 - more than double the next highest region, the south west with 27,500. Northern Ireland has the lowest number at 4,400.

The bank’s survey also reveals that over the past five years, the average price paid by homemovers has grown by 44 per cent from £205,852 in 2012, to £296,731 in 2017.

In London, the average price a homemover pays has grown by 59 per cent since 2012 to £568,816, the highest in the UK. 

The average deposit put down by a mover has also increased by 45 per cent in the past five years, from £69,089 in 2012 to £100,387 in 2017. 

Londoners require the largest deposit of £196,535 towards the purchase of their next home, which is four times the average homemover deposit of £46,032 in Northern Ireland.