Published: 05/05/2020
London and the south east are about to see a mass exodus of home buyers after lockdown, according to data from the leading property websites.
Searches by Londoners for homes outside the capital increased by 73% on the leading property portals including OnTheMarket, Zoopla and Rightmove. The toll the COVID-19 virus has had in London has resulted in buyers now considering 'safer' areas of the country that offer excellent travel/rail connections, as well as offering better value for money.Fast and reliable internet connection has also proved even more relevant with the recent health crisis having shown how easy it can be to work from home. A new generation is emerging showing how one can leave London to a larger property and enjoy a better family-work balance.
Mount & Minster have seen a 68% increase in applicants via our London office of people seeking homes in Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire. These homes are marketed from our regional offices in Grantham, Lincoln and soon from our new Newark office due to open at the end of May 2020.
Ralph Wyrley-Birch, Senior Partner, comments: 'What's interesting having spoken to a large proportion of these buyers is that being restricted during lockdown to their relatively small houses and flats, some of which cost millions of pounds, has made them realise that there's more to life than being 'imprisoned' in a small space, as well as being in a city that was subject to the worst of the virus. Areas around Grantham, Newark and indeed Lincoln fared well not only in comparison to London, but also had one of the lowest infection rates nationally.'
Londoners moving to the East Midlands can swap a small terrace house with a postage stamp garden for a larger period property with more external space and beautiful surroundings. Mrs Jenkins from Battersea, one of Mount & Minster's applicants looking in this area, says:
“When you’ve got kids in lockdown, you begin dreaming of a bigger garden. This whole situation has made us reassess what is most important in our home life. I don't work anymore and my husband only really needs to go into the office two or three days a week. We currently live in a mid-terraced Victorian property which is lovely, however we recently visited a friend of ours who recently moved to a lovely village just outside Grantham. My husband commutes about an hour into work currently and we were shocked when we found out it took the same time to go from Grantham to Kings Cross! They live in a huge house surrounded by fields. Heaven! It took me back to my own childhood and it's undoubtedly the best environment for our children and the right move for us as a family."