Cricket devotees such as myself thrive on stats and county rankings and with the 2021 season now underway I know exactly who I want to claim that hitherto elusive place at the top of the championship table.

In the meantime we’ve been doing some ranking of our own, examining how the £1 million plus housing markets have performed in counties across the country since they reopened after the first lockdown and witnessed the rise in demand for country living.

Hampshire and Kent lead the Home Counties with more than 2,000 £1 million sales between them in the period from the beginning of June 2020 to the end of March this year. That’s an increase of 117 per cent on pre-pandemic levels.

Cornwall tops the lifestyle-relocation market – of all the counties with more than 300 £1 million plus sales agreed it has seen the biggest jump, with numbers rising by 179 per cent. 

Gloucestershire meanwhile notched up a 152 per cent increase supported by changes in working patterns. Many buyers have broadened the boundaries, widening their search beyond the traditional 60-minute commute of London and other major employment hubs thereby increasing demand in well-established prime areas epitomised by the Cotswolds.

Similarly, demand has also focused on the south west as buyer priorities shifted – the number of £1 million plus sales across Dorset, Devon and Somerset more than doubling in the short term. Interestingly the search for a country life has also led to a significant rise in activity in areas with less-established prime markets such as Worcestershire and Leicestershire.

In northern counties, Cheshire and North Yorkshire stand out, between them registering just shy of 650 agreed sales at £1 million and over.

Further information

Contact Lucian Cook

Contact Savills Residential Research