Covid intensifies North-South property divide

By David Lemon.
Updated Jan 24, 2022

MILTON KEYNES, U.K. (PRWEB) January 24, 2022 - Property prices in the North of England have declined over the last year, whilst in the South of England they have increased reveals the 2021 Property & Homemovers Report from property and data insight specialist, TwentyCi.

The so-called North-South divide was evident prior to the pandemic in 2019, but due to the buoyant property market from June 2020 as a result of the stamp duty holiday all property asking prices (with the exception of Inner London) rose. However, the most recent report reveals that house prices in the North have fallen by an average of -2.1 per cent year on year. The North East has experienced the largest fall at -4.7 per cent, whilst Yorkshire and Humber prices slumped by -1.08 per cent.

By contrast, property prices in the South have risen by an average of 5.28 per cent. Inner London has recovered experiencing year on year growth of 8.95 per cent. This is primarily driven by resumption of foreign investment both post-Brexit and post Covid. Wales and the South East have also experienced significant increases at 6.73 per cent and 6.69 per cent respectively.

Comments Colin Bradshaw, Chief Customer Officer, TwentyCi: The intensification of the North-South divide post-pandemic contradicts the flight to green spaces and the flexibility of for more hybrid working. Moreover, with the government promoting a levelling up agenda and a desire for a Northern powerhouse, the report suggests that there will be significant challenges to make this a reality, especially with the axing of the second phase of the HS2 rail extension.

The average asking price across the UK is now 384,000 compared to 378,000 in 2020, an increase of 1.5 per cent. High prices are being maintained by the lack of property stock coming to the market. Demand continues to outstrip supply.

Sales agreed are up nearly 13 per cent year on year and Exchanges have increased by 29 per cent demonstrating that the momentum initially stimulated by the stamp duty holiday has been maintained throughout 2021. New Instructions are down by nearly six per cent compared to 2020. Aside from Inner London, the whole of England and Wales at a regional level has between 2.2 and 3.1 months of property stock left to sell, and overall, the availability of stock is down by almost half on historical norms. In comparison to 2019 there has been a significant reduction in the availability of all property types except for flats. This is reflected in the number of bedrooms available across the market with a significant deficit in 3+ bedroom properties (-16 per cent). The property stock available now is represented more by mid and higher priced properties compared to 2019. More affordable housing has declined by 13 per cent, whilst properties worth over 750,000 have increased by 37 per cent.

Without a significant uplift in the volume of New Instructions the residential property market is at risk of significant slowdown in 2022. This is also reflected by the large reduction (-24 per cent year on year) in price changes. Home sellers can now command close to the asking price for their property, with no need to discount.

Despite the lack of properties coming to the market, and therefore limited choice for buyers, the number of people wanting to move remains high with 317,793 householders saying they are considering moving. The latest report reveals that there are over 1.1 million households currently within the home move journey: entering, progressing or completing the process of moving. This presents a significant opportunity to many different sectors including retail, construction and DIY and services. The spending power (+3 per cent of GDP per annum) associated with this massive volume of home movers can bring huge revenue gains and strong return on investment, bolstering the economy as we continue to navigate the impact of the pandemic.

ENDS Notes for editors TwentyCi is an information and marketing services company that provides UK residential property data, analytics & insight for marketing and other key strategic purposes. Our experience and client portfolio encompasses multiple sectors and categories, including property and estate agency groups, retailers, financial services, automotive and utilities. Holding the UKs largest and richest resource of factual homemover data compiled from more than 29 billion qualified data points, TwentyCi works with advertisers and their agencies to create contextually targeted marketing programmes that cut through by reaching consumers at the exact moment that they need a companys product or service, through the best media channel for that individual.

Please note that our publication normally provides year-on-year comparison of the residential market, however, given the extraordinary impact on the market arising from the Covid-19 pandemic and the unique events affecting the property market during 2020, for this report the comparison looks back at 2019 to provide a near normal comparison.