In the last couple of years, the number of people who’ve escaped the Capital for the relatively slower paced suburbs - including towns such as Maidenhead - has surged to its highest level since 2007!
The reasons for this mass exodus are many and varied, but the pandemic has arguably played the greatest role, by exposing shortcomings in London life that might not have been apparent pre the need to work from home.
For many city dwellers, this gargantuan shift towards ‘blended spaces’, served to take the shine out of much of what was loved and celebrated about metropolitan life - the relative compactness of it all, most notably.
So much is this the case, that out of the 112,000 homes that Londoners brought outside the capital in 2021, the desire for more space was the most common driving factor. Now, as varying degrees of work from home look to stay in place, this trend only looks set to continue.
Added to the equation, as well, are the recently-announced rising rail fairs, coupled with the potential extension of the low emission zone, all of which makes a move to the outskirts such as Maidenhead, seem ever more appealing. This is on top of the issue of high end stock shortages in the capital, which often make looking further afield, the only feasible option.
According to Julia Starzyk, Managing Director of Star Projects, 'high end prime residential London is currently suffering very much of a stock shortage, so looking on the outskirts seems to be the only option for people looking to invest £5-10M. The market has also changed massively in terms of opportunities for property development deals. The times of buying a property, adding a basement and splashing some paint on the walls are very much gone.'
The capital’s loss is, however, the home counties’ gain, as semi-detached houses in Windsor and Maidenhead increased 3.1 per cent in November last year, to £557,834 on average.
Overall, house prices in this area have increased by 2.8 per cent -more than the average for the South East - with the draw of open natural spaces, sizeable living spaces and accessibility to thank for this uplift!
According to Geoff Tomlinson, Managing Director of Braxton Estate Agents, “We are still seeing strong demand from families and young professionals moving out of London and other city centres, and when Crossrail finally becomes operational, we could see this increase even further. It would appear to be that they are favouring a more suburban lifestyle and giving up on city centre living. Maidenhead as a town is going through much-needed regeneration which will, in our opinion, create a far better urban environment for both homeowners and businesses in the years to come.”
For more details on buying and renting property in Maidenhead, visit www.braxtons.co.uk
Image by Nick Sprankling