Staying put: number of London leavers is at lowest level for 12 years

New knowledge from Hamptons Analysis discovered that Londoners bought simply 5.3 per cent of the houses offered exterior the capital within the first seven months of 2025. That is the bottom share since 2013 and compares to a peak of 8.2 per cent in 2022, when working from dwelling was the norm and the Covid Race for Area was in full swing— aided by the stamp responsibility vacation. A 5.3 proportion equates to 31,620 properties, half the height which noticed 63,600 houses bought by outgoing Londoners.

In comparison with pre-pandemic ranges, this 12 months’s outmigration figures are under the typical (5.9 per cent) recorded between 2010 and 2020, suggesting that the present numbers are extra in-line with these from a decade in the past, when the London property market was nonetheless subdued due to the monetary crash.

There are two principal drivers behind the most recent migration figures. Firstly, the return of office-based working has made transferring out of the capital a much less enticing proposition as extra employees now should be within the workplace three days every week at least. Secondly, a slower London property market means the buying energy of would-be movers has been lowered, and so they can’t improve their life-style once they transfer out in the way in which they as soon as may. Costs have risen 26 per cent exterior the capital over the past 5 years, triple that of London’s eight per cent rise.

In internal London, whereas a typical family promoting for £655,580 this 12 months may afford to greater than double the dimensions of their property, gaining 121 per cent or 1,178 further sq. toes of area, that is practically a 3rd much less area than if that they had moved in 2016 when spatial buying energy peaked and movers may treble their sq. footage. In comparison with 2016, the typical internal London property right this moment buys 553 fewer sq. toes exterior of London, equal to a lack of two double bedrooms or a typical one-bedroom flat.

Regardless of their lowered buying energy, internal Londoners made up a document 30 per cent of leavers final 12 months. That is up from 25 per cent a decade in the past and displays how excessive borrowing prices and weaker value development in central London, the place costs have stagnated or slumped, has made transferring domestically tough.

Internal Londoners are as an alternative contemplating areas additional afield that supply higher worth. Outer Londoners nonetheless make up nearly all of leavers at 70 per cent, however home costs have held up higher right here and tracked costs exterior London extra carefully. The typical outer London family promoting a house for £509,800 this 12 months may improve their area by 55 per cent, down from 72 per cent in 2016.

There have additionally been modifications to the locations of London leavers. Beforehand, these transferring out of internal London went additional afield than their outer London counterparts, preferring to reside exterior the standard commuter belt of the South East and East of England. In 2021, 37 per cent of internal Londoners selected to maneuver exterior these two areas, in comparison with 28 per cent of outer Londoners, nearly all of which settled nearer to the capital. These transferring to areas exterior the commuter belt have been typically looking for a complete life-style change and in style locations included Cornwall, Dorset and the Cotswolds.

In distinction, now, internal Londoners are simply as possible as these from outer London to stay throughout the South East or East of England. This implies affordability, moderately than life-style, is a significant component of their relocation resolution and so they nonetheless must retain a hyperlink to the capital, whereas maximising worth for cash.

Affordability components are additionally evident in the preferred locations for London relocators. In 2015, prestigious commuter cities equivalent to Broxbourne (66 per cent), Sevenoaks (63 per cent), and Welwyn Hatfield (60 per cent) topped the record, however, in 2025, these had both dropped down or didn’t make the highest 10 in any respect.

As a substitute, areas equivalent to Dartford (67 per cent), Epping Forest (62 per cent), and Tandridge (61 per cent) gained prominence, with moderately priced cities equivalent to Thurrock (59 per cent), Hertsmere (54 per cent), and Basildon (38 per cent) climbing the ranks. Worth and good transport hyperlinks to the capital trumped status for these transferring out of the capital.

“Many London owners merely haven’t constructed up sufficient fairness to make the leap to the place they wish to go, particularly as costs exterior the capital have continued to climb. The result’s fewer strikes, shorter distances, and a rising give attention to affordability over aspiration,” says Aneisha Beveridge, Head of Analysis at Hamptons.

“We’re seeing a transparent shift in the place Londoners are heading. The pandemic pushed patrons into leafier, extra lifestyle-driven areas, however right this moment’s movers are extra pragmatic. Locations like Dartford and Thurrock are topping the record— not simply because they’re commutable, however as a result of they provide higher worth, significantly for first-time patrons. Even internal London leavers, who as soon as ventured far and extensive, at the moment are staying nearer to the capital. In an indication of the instances, the dream of doubling your area nonetheless exists, however it’s now not a given.”