BI senior industry analyst (real estate) Iwona Hovenko explained that escaping to the countryside was losing its appeal for Londoners.

“They increasingly want to stay in the capital, compared with last year’s survey, possibly driven by a revival of the city’s dynamism since the pandemic, plus the need to return to the office for at least part of the week.

“Our survey showed 49.1% of home-movers (vs. 46.1% previously) and 65.2% of first-time buyers (vs. 60.7%) aim to buy a home in London, with towns the second choice among both groups.

She added: “London first-timers strongly favour urban locations, with large regional cities in third position. Remote rural locations have lost some allure for Londoners, chosen by 6.2% of respondents vs. 8.9% last year, with the steepest drop among first-time buyers (1.5% vs. 7.1% last year).”

Other findings of the survey include:

London-based home-hunters are more likely than other groups to favour newly-built houses, citing quality as the main reason (58%), followed by energy efficiency (30%) and warranty (26%).

London-based home-seekers seem in more of a rush than those in the rest of the UK, with 40.6% planning to buy in the next six months, including 13.8% in the next three months, about double the proportion elsewhere.

Hovenko stressed that London’s first-time buyers were keen to stop renting, get more living space and cut costs, but high home values, interest rates and rents posed obstacles.

In this group, 50% of those who sped up a purchase did so in fear of rising prices (vs. 38.2% in mid-2023). But only 4.5% aimed to buy within three months vs. 11.7% for first-time buyers in the rest of the UK.

High interest rates remained the top reason for delay, with living costs next (34.6% vs. 27.3% in 2023). An average London rent of £2,070 a month in February (39.8% of gross income), made it saving for a deposit very hard.

The BI UK homebuyer survey took place in February. The 1,000 adult respondents were selected using criteria specified by Bloomberg Intelligence. Participants were limited to those 25-68 years old with a minimum annual gross household income of £45,000.