House moves driven by need – estate agent – BBC News

Home moves out of London are being driven by need rather than desire, due to higher mortgage rates, according to an estate agent.

The average “London leaver” spent £429,800 on their new home this year, £63,735 less than those in 2022.

And a higher proportion of London leavers are buying smaller properties.

Aneisha Beveridge, of Hamptons, said: “The likelihood that mortgage rates will stay higher for longer may keep the pace of London outmigration up.”

Londoners made up 7.7% of home buyers outside the capital in Britain during the first half of this year, outpacing the 2015 to 2019 average of 6.9%, according to estimates from Hamptons.

The figure is slightly below the 7.9% recorded in 2021 and 2022, when people were changing their lifestyles and working from home more regularly.

Londoners leaving the city are also buying smaller properties, with 37% purchasing a one or two-bed home, up from a third last year.

The calculations were based on analysis of data from estate agents network Countrywide, which Hamptons is part of.

Ms Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons, said: “London outmigration has increasingly been driven by need over want, as higher mortgage rates reduce buyers’ budgets, pushing them in search of smaller homes in more affordable areas.”

She said that most people leaving the capital are looking to keep links to the area.

“This has supported values of smaller homes in some of the more affordable towns within an hour’s commute of London,” she said.