Capital idea - high numbers still moving out of London says agency

An analysis of Countrywide branch data outside London has revealed that one in 10 applicants who registered to buy were from the capital.

Analysis conducted by Hamptons International reveals that in May one in 10 applicants who registered in a Countrywide branch outside of London to buy a home were from the capital - this was down from the record 15 per cent recorded in April, but still well ahead of the seven per cent recorded in May 2019.

In particular, there has been a large increase in Londoners looking to move to the south of England with 19 per cent of applicants registering last month with a branch in that region being from the capital. 

The previous peak with 13 per cent back in May 2016.

The proportion of applicants from London who registered to buy a home in the Midlands or North stayed pretty flat at a modest four and two per cent respectively.

Hamptons’ research chief Aleisha Berevidge says that the average Londoner looking for a home elsewhere had a budget of £422,000 although five per cent could spend £1m or more. 

No fewer than 33 per cent of those applicants registering to buy outside of London in May were first-time buyers, again a record high and up from 26 per cent in May 2019.

She says Londoners bought 73,000 homes outside the capital in 2019, slightly down from 75,690 in 2016.

“Due to the lockdown restrictions in place and the knock-on effect this will have on the total number of house purchases we do not expect the number of Londoners buying homes outside the capital to rise this year.  However the early signs suggest that proportionally London buyers will certainly play a bigger role in the markets outside of the capital in 2020 and we could see London out-migration peak in 2021 if this trend continues” she says.