A new analysis suggests that as many as 40 per cent of people in the UK are at last considering moving to a different location following the Coronavirus pandemic.
Professional services company GHD says the proportion of those considering moving home was - perhaps unsurprisingly - higher among people living in urban areas generally (51 per cent) and city centres specifically (48 per cent) than those living in suburban and rural areas (34 and 28 per cent).
The most popular reasons given for wanting to move were to get more space to make working from home easier; to live in a cleaner air environment; and to have better local access to nature.
The results showed that more respondents in the UK were considering moving than in any of the other countries surveyed, which were the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.
GHD conducted the survey among over 8000 consumers in these six countries, of which 1,004 live in the UK.
Further highlights from the survey include some 34 per cent predicting an increase in home working following the pandemic; of these, just over half previously did not work at home at all.
Commenting on the findings, GHD executive director Tim Mawhood says: “At the beginning of 2021, some large cities experienced dips in population, demonstrating the extent to which changing work practices, and the prevalence of online shopping, are increasingly making location a choice for some, since proximity to workplaces and physical shops is now less of a consideration.
“Early signs already suggest that peri-urban areas are growing in popularity, as some turn their back on living in densely populated city centres in favour of local living.
“What is certain is that town and city leaders must ensure their regions have a long-term vision for living and operating sustainably in order to attract both businesses and residents.”
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