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Value of money spent on property by Londoners highest in a decade

Londoners have spent £30bn on property outside capital, according to Hamptons International

Londoners are investing more in property outside of the city as the value of property purchased by Londoners outside of the capital has reached the highest it has been in a decade, according to Hamptons International.

Data shows that Londoners spent £30bn on property in other areas of the UK in 2018 compared with £28bn in 2017 – a 7.8 per cent increase from 2017, with the average property costing £398,910.

The value of money spent was split across 74,350 properties in 2018, 3.8 per cent higher than the year prior. In 2007, this number stood at 113,640.

Hamptons adds that of all those who left London in 2018, 21 per cent relocated to the Midlands or the North, up from 15 per cent in 2017.

The data shows that the majority of Londoners either stayed put in the South East, or moved to the South West or East of England – 77 per cent.

Broxbourne was the East of England’s most popular destination for Londoners leaving the capital, with 72 per cent of all homes purchased in the area funded by Londoners in 2018.

Meanwhile, Sevenoaks in the South East and Bath and North East Somerset in the South West were the most popular destinations in their respective regions, with 52 per cent of all homes purchased in the areas being by Londoners last year.

Daventry was the most popular location in the Midlands at 17 per cent, followed by Middlesbrough in the North, with 16 per cent of homes being bought by a Londoner in 2018.

Hamptons head of research Aneisha Beveridge said that historically most people moving out of London have done so because of changing priorities, such as starting a family or generally wanting a slower pace of life. But increasingly as affordability in the capital is stretched, more households are looking beyond the confines of London to buy their first home. For many this means moving further afield to areas such as the Midlands and North where they can get more for their money.

Beveridge said that despite a rise in the number of London leavers this year, 2018 is likely to be a peak. A slower housing market in 2019 will likely mean that there will be fewer Londoners buying homes outside of the capital than in 2018.

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