The latest monthly lettings index from Countrywide has revealed that a record 65,000 tenants left London over the last 12 months.
During the past year, 64,672 tenants left London – the highest number since 2007. 78% (50,406) left to rent another home outside the capital with the remaining 22% (14,266) leaving to buy a home.
According to Countrywide, this is a significant shift from a decade ago when the majority of tenants moving out of the capital did so to buy a property.
“For people in their 30s leaving London is something of a rite of passage,” commented Johnny Morris, research director at Countrywide. “But, as the number of those renting has grown, the move out of London is increasingly likely to be in the rental market. A decade ago most tenants moving out of the capital did so to buy. But since 2007 leaving London to carry on renting somewhere else has become more typical.”
Countrywide has also revealed that rents rose 1.1% over the last 12 months to stand at £978 a month. Over the last 12 months rents grew faster in southern regions than those in the north. However, more homes coming on to the rental market in Northern England has slowed rental growth. In September there were 12% more rental properties on the market across the three regions of Northern England (North East, North West and Yorkshire & Humber) with one in ten owned by a London landlord.
