Monday, March 23 2020
In a night-time TV address, the Prime Minister announced to the nation that due to the rapidly escalating pandemic, people can only leave home for limited reasons and Britons overseas must return to the UK, kickstarting our first lockdown and drastically changing the way we lived, worked, and our attitude to our homes.
In the year since this announcement, there has been a surge in demand for larger homes, gardens and green space, and a well-documented exodus from cities as renters and house-hunters clamour for properties away from the crowds.
The latest data and analysis from Rightmove has revealed that the county of Cornwall has overtaken London as the most searched for location for buyers on Rightmove with over five million searches in a month in February 2021, as people seek out beautiful countryside and coastal towns and villages to move to. Dorset has also jumped up the ranks from position 20 to position 10.
The lure of the countryside has in fact led to six of the top ten places seeing buyer searches increase the most over the past year being located in Cornwall and Devon, with searches for the village of Stithians in Cornwall up by a massive 224% on this time last year.
When looking at the second half of 2020, annual sales agreed grew by 69% in rural areas, compared to 49% in urban areas as more people looked to escape to the country.
The detached dream
Detached homes have proven to be the sweet spot in the market as people look to trade up for extra rooms, a garden, garage or perhaps space away from immediate neighbours. Looking by the number of bedrooms, five-bed detached homes have seen the biggest jump in sales being agreed, up by 38%, followed by four-bed properties, up by 26%.
This is also a likely result of the temporary stamp duty holiday savings being largest for more expensive homes.
Are buyers leaving cities?
There has been a shift in more people who currently live in a city enquiring about a property that is outside of that city. The biggest shift has been in London where this time last year 39% of Londoners were enquiring outside of London. This has jumped up to over half now (52%), and the trend is the same across all 10 of the biggest cities in the UK.
Renters trading up for space
A year ago the most sought after property type for tenants was a two-bed flat, and this has been replaced by a two-bed semi-detached house, due to the desire for more space and a garden. Asking rents over the past year vary dramatically, with double-digit growth in some towns and suburbs, compared to double-digit declines in areas of London.
Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s Director of Property Data, comments: “The stand-out trends over the past year have been increased demand for countryside and coastal living, more people making the dream of a detached home a reality, and the increased appeal for a garden.
“The huge population of London means that traditionally it’s the most searched for location on Rightmove, but the appeal of the coast and the countryside over the past year has seen Cornwall crowned the new capital this year.
“More space has always been the most common reason for people moving home, but the evolution for many from balancing their laptop on the end of a bed last March to making an office a permanent addition to a home, whether that’s by converting a bedroom, garage or garden shed, has led to a need for even bigger homes than before. This is evident with five-bed detached homes seeing the biggest growth in sales, and two-bed homes becoming the most sought after for people renting.”
Emma Ward, Director at Goundrys Estate Agents in Cornwall, adds: “It’s been an incredibly busy year as people rethink the types of homes they want to buy and where they want to live. Some are moving here to be closer to family while others are looking for a complete change in lifestyle. Detached homes, which are around the £500k-£700k mark here, have been flying off the shelves, we’ve none left! We need more sellers to come to market as there is such strong buyer demand for places with garages, gardens, office space and more.”
