counter urbanisation

Escaping the madness’: steep rise in Londoners moving to northern England

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It’s not just the north its also rural – we’ve been the subject of urban flight for years, now its taking on a north south divide as well. Still don’t hold your breath…..

Patrick Cox’s patience with London snapped when he was charged £3.50 for a cup of tea. For Amy Everett, it was the overcrowded commutes on trains that broke down so often she regularly worried she might never get home.

The pair are part of a rising tide of Londoners moving out of the capital, revealed in new figures suggesting the popularity of settling in or returning to northern England has more than doubled since 2014. While in 2009 only 1% of people leaving London bought or rented homes in the north, in 2019 that figure reached 13%, data from the Countrywide network of estate and lettings agents shows.

Sheffield, Leeds and Newcastle upon Tyne are experiencing the fastest rises among northern cities in the number of escapees arriving from the capital, according to separate data from the Office for National Statistics, which indicates a possible shift east of the London escape route from the well-worn path to Manchester. Sheffield had a 12% rise in Londoners moving to buy or rent in 2018, followed by Newcastle and Leeds, which both recorded 5% increases.

Rural locations becoming more attractive to home movers in the UK

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People in the UK want to live in villages but the need to have easy access to shops, transport and medical facilities and good broadband, new research has found.

Some 21% of people who are moving home said that they wanted to live in a village, making it easily the most popular type of location, compared to 14% for a market town and only 12% for either a big city or a suburb, according to the study by Strutt & Parker.

The Housing Futures Report found that broadband and mobile connections are essential to rural life. Access to broadband was a key factor for 49% of those intending to move to a village, while 38% highlighted mobile connectivity.

It reveals that with 60% want to be able to walk to shops, 48% close to local transport and 45% near to medical facilities.

‘The UK might seem to be focused on urbanisation but we believe a new, overlooked trend is set to shape Britain’s housing market over the coming decades and this is the desire to move back to rural locations,’ said Stephanie McMahon, head of research at Strutt & Parker.

The shift away from cities is being driven by people looking for neighbourhood safety at 86%, while 58% want space between neighbours and 48% are looking for a strong community feel.

‘The expansion of broadband and mobile communications has seen a greater uptake of working from home in rural locations compared to urban areas. It seems that the same factors that once drove urbanisation, improving economic and social conditions, are now inspiring the village revival,’ added McMahon.

The  report shows a significant increase in respondents looking for rental accommodation. 10% of those wanting to move to a village would live in a professionally managed private rental unit, up from 1% in 2013.

The South East, South West and North East are the three leading destinations for people who are intending to move in the next five years. The South West’s appeal as a lifestyle and retirement location is set to continue attracting moves from the South East and London and with increased government investment in the Northern Powerhouse, the North West is likely to become more attractive.

Can we stop the countryside becoming a retreat for the rich and retired?

This think piece by Martin Collett (operations director at the English Rural Housing Association) not only sets out plight of people unable to afford to live in the countryside thus lacking a  mixture of income earners and age groups; he also has a radical solution. Collett writes: The answer to the problem is simple but unpopular – build more homes that local people can afford. If each parish in England were to provide just a dozen new homes, it would add up to around 125,000 new homes and have a major impact on the problems faced in rural areas. Few parishes would struggle to accommodate this many new homes and, given the potential gains for the community, surely the sacrifice of a small field corner would be worth it. Political focus and planning policies designed to tackle the need for more affordable homes continue to emphasise urban solutions to rural problems. Even with flexibilities designed into the planning system, the resistance against change is overwhelming, with those averse to new homes mobilising at the mere mention of the word development, often hiding behind a thin veil of conservationism. Even rural settlements have changed over the generations. Conserving the countryside doesn’t mean freeze framing a rural idyll, but facing up to challenges threatening the people who make the countryside what it is.