As we follow the rules and stay in our homes, city dwellers who’ve always seen themselves moving to the country will be putting their plans – though not their dreams – on hold.

Until now, for some Londoners it’s been a well-trodden path: sell up and head out  of town for a house with more indoor and outside space and, crucially, a more affordable price tag. The difference between values in the capital and the wider UK is what has enabled that dream home to become a reality.

And charting data from ONS and the Nationwide, it is clear that this gap has opened up dramatically over the last 50 years, passing the point at which you could buy two houses for the price of one (average values, of course) some time in 2014. 

Tracking the numbers back to 1969, the average London house price was only around 1.3 times the UK average. So, if you wanted to head out into the south-eastern commuter belt, for example, you could expect to sell for just over £6,000 and buy for an average of £5,792. Or perhaps you’d look to the South West where the average house price was £4,496 or maybe to the North where it was £3,714.

Those in search of value for money beyond the capital in 2016 were house hunting when the gap was at its widest – 2.3 times the UK average. Then a London home would have been worth an average £534,272 compared with £374,839 in the South East or £270,430 in the South West. The average for the North meanwhile was £168,513; in Wales it stood at £181,877; Scotland’s average house price was £187,250; and in Northern Ireland it was £151,624.  Plenty of scope for a wise buy.

Today the London pound will not stretch quite as far as it used to with prices back to around twice the UK average. We are in unprecedented times of course, but ultimately we believe the likelihood is that the narrowing trend will continue. Future sellers might do well to keep an eye on the closing gap.

Further information

Contact Savills Research