The number of Londoners leaving the capital to move elsewhere in Great Britain dropped back sharply in 2023, following two years of near-record outmigration levels, according to a new London Outmigration report by Hamptons.

The report estimates that Londoners have spent £28.7bn on homes outside the capital this year, marking a significant 41% or £20.1bn fall from the £48.8bn recorded in 2021 when outmigration peaked.

The fall was driven by two factors. Firstly, given that fewer homes were sold nationally, London leavers are buying in smaller numbers too. The number of homes bought by Londoners outside the capital fell to 69,190 in 2023, the lowest figure in nine years and down from a peak of 100,980 in 2021.

Secondly, the reality of higher mortgage rates mean London leavers are also spending less on their new home outside the M25. Affordability pressures meant that the average Londoner buying outside the capital spent an average of £415,020 in 2023, £89,990 less than the £505,010 average spend last year.

Even though the number has dropped, affordability pressures have meant that the rate of London outmigration has increased over the last year and remains higher than pre-Covid. Londoners made up 7.7% of all buyers purchasing property outside the capital in 2023, up from 7.3% in 2022 and 6.8% in 2019. However, the pace of London outmigration remains lower than when it peaked at a 15-year high of 7.8% in 2021.