Huge Exodus From UK Cities, Says Hamptons Agency

Everyone is aware that WFH is here to stay. No major employer can demand that its workforce attend an office environment now, those days are gone. Plus, big cities like London, with its high ULEZ charges, Oyster card costs, high crime rates and enduring attraction for protestors and angry activists of all types, has extra costs in time and money. Sometimes the work opportunity doesn’t counter-balance those costs and risks, especially if you have a young family.

Other cities like Birmingham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester and others are set to charge people to simply drive to work, or ferry children to school. So it’s no surprise to learn that people, espeially well paid people, are packing up and moving the the `Burbs, or the countryside. But how many?

Data from Hamptons estate agents also shows Londoners alone buying 61,380 homes outside the capital between January and June 2021, the highest number since 2006, with research commissioned by property tax experts Cornerstone Tax illustrating the sentiments behind this:

• In the past year, over 3.3 million Brits have moved away from a city or urban area
• 44% of Brits feel that the impact of Coronavirus has made living in a city less appealing
• 24%, or 4.3 million Brits, will no longer commute into a city for their job post-pandemic

David Hannah, principal consultant at property tax experts Cornerstone Tax, comments on why the budget is backing a wider trend:

“This Budget sets up what is becoming a wider trend in migration away from centres to the regions, so it is good to see that infrastructure spending is being put in place to support this. It is also good to see no further significant tax rises announced as the UK economy grows at a faster rate than first thought, as it has long been the thinking of many economists that growth, both economically and in tax takes, comes from lower taxes, not higher.

“The commentary around the property market and the pandemic positions Covid-19 as the only cause for this trend of deurbanisation outlined by property demand and our own data. We don’t think this is quite fair – many of us have long-dreamed of a slower life in the country, and the cultural significance of this dream is nothing new. The ubiquitous effects of the pandemic and the various lockdowns its caused has naturally had a significant impact, mainly by making the culture of work less rigid. “