Londoners eager to leave city for Surrey

COUNTY IS BACK IN FAVOUR WITH HOUSE BUYERS

- By VICKY SHAW Press Association Personal Finance Correspondent

THE traditional Home Counties commuter belt is falling back into favour with home movers leaving London, amid improved affordability and people spending more time working from offices than during the coronavirus pandemic, analysis indicates.

After several years of being overlooked in favour of more affordable areas further afield, the traditional commuter belt is "back on the map," according to property firm Hamptons.

Its analysis suggests that, in 2025, 18.2 per cent of homes sold in the Home Counties were bought by people from London the highest share since 2017.

The figure is up from 15.4 per cent in 2024 and more than seven percentage points higher than the pandemic low of 11.1 per cent in 2022, when buyers moved further into the South West, Midlands and North in search of space and value, the report said.

House price growth in some parts of the North has recently outperformed parts of southern England, although average house prices are often higher in the South.