There is no getting away from the fact that London life is brilliant for some people, while it can be too hectic and busy for other people. If you work in the London area, it makes sense to find a home that is as close to your work as possible, because this will maximise the amount of time that you have to spend with your loved ones. There is always a trade-off to be made when it comes to property and life in London is all about making trade-offs and determining what is the best solution for your needs.
It seems that the tipping point in the London market is coming for many people and families. This has been cited by Savills, an upmarket London estate agent that has announced people are selling up and moving out of the capital. They have stated that the most popular destinations include Kent, Surrey, Cambridge and Oxford. The most common complaints come with a lack of space in London, lack of value for money and the lack of space in the best local schools. Moving out to the suburbs may place parents under a bit of pressure to get to and from their work on time, but it is likely to give their children a better level of education, which is definitely something that most parents will consider to be highly important in life. This means that there may be an impact on London with well to do families moving further out of the city.
This isn’t going to impact on every family, this is clearly something that only some families can afford but when it comes to doing the best for your family, there are a number of factors to take on board. This is something that people need to consider when they are making their decisions, and family will always come first for many people. This has helped to boost the number of transactions that are concluding outside of London, and Savills have greatly benefited from this rise in property deals. This can be seen with the fact that the firm experienced a 15% rise in the level of their pre-tax profits for the first six months of 2014. The level of pre-tax profits stated by the firm was £24.7m.
Will this help the London property market?
The fact that more people are looking to move out means that there will be a greater level of supply, which will hopefully go some way to meeting demand for London property. It is not going to solve the current problems in the London property market but it could go some way to lowering the prices in the market, which would be of great benefit to virtually everyone, apart from estate agents and the people selling properties!
If more people are looking to sell their London property, there is a chance that London surveyors will experience a rise in demand for their services. It may even be that some surveyors will find that clients will ask them to carry out surveying work for them when they move out to one of the towns or communities outside of the capital. This may provide some surveyors in London with the opportunity to expand their coverage, hopefully picking up some new clients along the way.
As well as more people moving out of London, there has also been a notable switch of where people are buying property in London. The West End will always have a stylish and swanky image but it seems as though the East is on the rise. The Olympic Games may have played a part in the rise of the image of the East but there has been a considerable amount of development work taking place in this part of London. The Olympic Park is one thing but the proposed benefits that will come from Crossrail, scheduled to open in 2018, means that there is a considerable level of interest in this part of the city. So much so that Savills are looking into opening another office in the East end of London, a situation that would not have been expected a number of years ago, but it just goes to show how much London life has changed in recent years.
While the workload of surveyors indicates that there remains a high level of demand for London property, it seems as though some people are starting to grow a little bit tired and weary of London life.
Andrew Reilly is a freelance writer with a focus on news stories and consumer interest articles. He has been writing professionally for 8 years but has been writing for as long as he can care to remember. When Andrew isn’t sat behind a laptop or researching a story, he will be found watching a gig or a game of football.
