Covid-19 will redraw the UK rental map

9:04 AM, 10th December 2020, About 4 years ago 2

Text Size

As the government prepares to roll out the first coronavirus vaccines, much of the nation will be anticipating a return to a more ‘normal’ life in 2021, but for London’s housing market there may be no going back to normal. New research from flatshare site SpareRoom shows that 49% of London’s renters who intend to move plan to quit the city for good once the pandemic is over.

According to the research, 27% of renters in London plan to move after the pandemic has come to an end, with half of them (49%) determined to leave the city. The upshot is a projected 13% net exodus of renters from London. What’s more, with 60% of all renters who plan on moving post-Covid-19 are not looking to move to a major city², a wider shift away from city living looks likely.

SpareRoom’s survey also shows that one in ten (9%) renters have moved during the pandemic. This figure more than doubles for 23-29-year olds, however, with 24% of this age group having moved within the last nine months. Overall, reasons for moving mid-pandemic included needing to save money (22%), loss of job and income (9%), a desire to live in a different area (26%), to be closer to family and friends (15%) and to live with a partner (15%).

The research also highlights a huge affordability crisis for young people, with one in three people (33%) aged 23-29 saying they live with their parents. This figure only drops to one in five (18%) for people in their thirties.

Matt Hutchinson, SpareRoom Director said, “We’re looking at a redrawing of the UK’s rental map in 2021 and London will be the biggest loser. Whether it’s down to the catastrophic effects of COVID on tourism, hospitality and the arts, driven more by lifestyle factors like wanting outdoor space, or simply the realisation that many jobs can now be done from anywhere, London living is losing its appeal for many.

We’ve already seen the effects on London rents, with averages falling consistently since spring. What happens next is the interesting thing. This could be the start of a changing UK economy that relies less on London and the South East, as remote working becomes the new norm. If that’s the case, London rents are unlikely to recover quickly and house prices could follow suit once the stamp duty holiday ends.”

1Based on a survey of 4,003 people in the UK aged 23+ who were either renting, flat-sharing, or living with their parents.

2 Major cities are defined for the purposes of the survey as London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds Liverpool, Nottingham, Glasgow, Sheffield, Bristol, Brighton, Oxford and Cambridge.

Share This Article

Comments

Jon D

13:20 PM, 28th December 2020, About 4 years ago

Good points. And leaving the EU means less migration especially from Eastern Europe. More downward pressure on rents.

On the plus side, wages will rise at the lower end, finally.

Report Comment Reply

DPT

13:30 PM, 28th December 2020, About 4 years ago

There has been a lot of chatter about the number of people who are planning to quit London and move somewhere cheaper because they can work from home. I've no doubt that some will do that and there will be a dip. However, I don't believe the effect will be big and London will certainly bounce back. There are many reasons other than work to live in the capital. Access to culture, restaurants, clubs, bars, great architecture and all other aspects of big city life. I also think that people will get fed up with working permanently from home and the isolation will lead to a swing back to working in the office. Whether there will ever be a return to norms of pre-covid days is perhaps less clear, but big cities and London in particular are still a good place to own property.

Report Comment Reply

Leave Comments

In order to post comments you will need to Sign In or Sign Up for a FREE Membership

Continue with Facebook

Continue with Twitter

Username/Email Address

Password

Remember Me

Forgotten your password?

Don't have an account? Sign Up

“Account”	means an account required to access and/or use certain areas and features of Our Site;
“Cookie”	means a small text file placed on your computer or device by Our Site when you visit certain parts of Our Site and/or when you use certain features of Our Site. Details of the Cookies used by Our Site are set out in section 13, below;
“Cookie Law”	means the relevant parts of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003;
“personal data”	means any and all data that relates to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified from that data. In this case, it means personal data that you give to Us via Our Site. This definition shall, where applicable, incorporate the definitions provided in the EU Regulation 2016/679 – the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”); and
“We/Us/Our”	Means Property118 Ltd , a limited company registered in England under company number 10295964, whose registered address is 1st Floor, Woburn House, 84 St Benedicts Street, Norwich, NR2 4AB.

Name of Cookie	Purpose	Strictly Necessary
JSESSIONID	Used only to collect performance data, with any identifiable data obfuscated	No
__cfduid	This cookie is strictly necessary for Cloudflare's security features and cannot be turned off.	Yes

Name of Cookie	First / Third Party	Provider	Purpose
__utma, __utmb, __utmc, __utmt, __utmz	First	Google	Helps to understand how their visitors engage with our website
_fbp	First	Facebook	Helps to understand how their visitors engage with our website