"The move to home working during the pandemic loosened ties to the office and emerging hybrid working conditions are making distant suburban and more rural living more possible."
While 23% of brokers said the race for space was either “definitely” or “probably” over, 69% said it was not. 8% of the brokers polled weren’t sure.
Duncan Kreeger, founder and CEO of TAB, said: “In late 2020 and early 2021, the pandemic started driving a ‘race for space’, boosting outlying suburbs. City-centre residential rents fell as tenants moved into suburbs. In the last quarter of 2020, flats in London were taking 20% longer to rent than they had before the pandemic - while the time taken to rent houses in the capital fell by over 10%. Then, in the first three months of 2021, home movers flush with housing equity left first-time buyers trailing as the drivers of the UK housing market, as the race for space led to a switch in the long-term balance of demand.
“I didn’t expect that to last until now. A year down the line and brokers are telling us this trend is still dominating the market. The move to home working during the pandemic loosened ties to the office and emerging hybrid working conditions are making distant suburban and more rural living more possible. Buyers with savings are targeting bigger properties with more outdoor space.”
