Buy to let investors flock to the regions for better yields

The share of Londoners purchasing property outside of the capital slowed in 2022, back towards pre-Covid norms.  

That’s the view of lettings agency Hamptons which says that in 2022, Londoners bought 7.3 per cent of all homes sold outside the capital, down from a 14-year high of 7.8 per cent in 2021.  

Proportionally though, with flexible working becoming the norm for many, the agency claims the rate of London outmigration remains above 2019 levels when 6.8 per cent of homes in the regions were bought by a Londoner.            

In number terms this means that Londoners are set to purchase 81,200 properties outside the capital in 2022, nearly 20,000 fewer than when London purchases peaked at 100,540 in 2021. However, this figure remains substantially up on the 2015-19 average of 74,970 and reflects the fact that 300,000 fewer homeowners moved in 2022 than in 2021.

Driven by affordability pressures, first-time buyers made up a record 28 per cent of those buying outside the capital, equating to 22,470 purchases.  

Due to lower transaction numbers overall, London based first-time buyers bought five per cent fewer homes in the regions than in 2022.   

Meanwhile, London based investors made up a record 21 per cent of those buying in the regions, up from 16 per cent in 2021 and nine per cent a decade ago.  

The search for higher yields to cover rising costs means that nearly two-thirds of London based investors now choose the regions over the capital for their new buy-to-let, up from 26 per cent in 2012.