Number of families leaving London to buy cheaper homes elsewhere hits eight-year high

More Londoners in 2015 sold their houses and moved out of the capital than at any other time since the financial crisis, new figures show.
Research by property firm Hamptons International revealed 63,000 households have left London for the suburbs in the last 12 months – the highest number since 2007.
The company’s head of research Johnny Morris linked the numbers to the capital’s soaring house prices, suggesting homeowners were hoping to cash in on the boom that has this year seen the average cost of a home top £500,000.
“As the gap between prices in London and the south-east has grown, so has the temptation for Londoners to cash in on record house prices and move out of the capital,” he said.
“With expectations of future house price growth in London easing, many have chosen 2015 to make their move out of London.”
Nearly nine in 10 of those leaving opted to buy homes elsewhere in the south, paying an average £415,000 – but the number of Londoners relocating to the Midlands, where the average house price is £180,000, has more than doubled since 2014.
Next year could see the exodus stretch even further afield, Mr Morris added.
“We will see more Londoners leaving the capital in 2016, many prepared to move further afield in search of value for money,” he said.
In all, Londoners spent £24 billion in 2015 buying properties outside the M25 – a jump of £10bn compared with 2014, but still below the £32bn spent in 2007.
And more than a fifth of the 63,000 people who left the capital to put down deposits on homes elsewhere were first-time buyers