London’s Rising house prices are driving people out of the capital

The number of people in their thirties leaving the capital has jumped dramatically in the last year new analysis shows, the trend coincides with London’s rising house prices. Data from the campaign group Generation Rent, showed that the net outflow of people in their 30’s moving out of London last year was minus 30,410. Almost double the amount recorded in 2011-2012 where more people moved into London than moved out. During the period of the exodus, property prices in the capital surged by a staggering 37 per cent, with the average house price in London jumping from 299,065 to 410,445 according to figures from the UK Land Registry analysed by Generation Rent.

London’s Rising House Prices

London’s rising house prices are not limited to recent years, the Halifax House Price Index shows that values in London have multiplied by almost six times in the past 20 years. The ONS (Office for National Statistics) suggest that in some of the richest areas of inner London have increased by a multiple of 10 in the last 20 years. Generation Rents research showed that nearly 2 in 3 of those leaving the capital were relocating elsewhere in the South East, largely in commuter belt areas. And over 11 percent of people were moving to the north of England where property prices are far cheaper.

London’s Rising House Prices are driving people to more affordable commuter towns

Lloyds Bank said that people who are willing to move further from their work place in London could save around 60 per cent on property prices. London’s rising property prices attracting people to relocate to cheaper more affordable areas such as Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, which was top of the affordable housing commuter towns list. Peterborough, Cambridgeshire was behind where the average house price is 4.2 times the average income of travel zones one and two in London. Despite the high cost of transport for commuters, the value of moving out of the capital is significant with the typical annual rail cost for a one-hour daily commute is around £5,000.