Yep – you read that right. According to new research, almost 100,000 London renters scarpered from the capital throughout 2022 – the highest rate in an entire decade.
In other words, 40% of tenants who were moving from their home chose to leave the capital – up from 28% 10 years ago.
It marks the opposite trend to the year before, when more actual homeowners (we can all hope one day right) left the capital than renters for the first time in a decade.
Most people aren’t moving too far though. Surrey, Essex, Kent and Hertfordshire are all proving to be pretty popular places to go, and given the rising rents in the capital and continuing ability to work from home post-pandemic, we can see why.
As Aneisha Beveridge, Head of Research at Hamptons estate agents states:
“While the commuter belt is often prohibitively expensive for would-be first-time buyers, the number of homes on the market here has increased faster than in the capital this year, tempting tenants to cross the M25”.
Added to that, she says that the demographic of those leaving tends to be those people in their mid- to late-30s, who are maybe looking for more space in order to start a family, or to live a quieter life.
And with rents this high – especially in a cost of living crisis – who can blame them? Let’s all keep our fingers crossed that the argued-for rent freeze by current mayor Sadiq Khan actually goes ahead… Us London renters need it!