Should regions replicate London’s affordable housing model as people move away from the capital?

Fewer people are looking for properties that are a stone’s throw from the office, and a city-centre flat as a starter home is losing its edge. In fact, data shows that, for the first time in 30 years, the population is falling in cities such as London. Hamptons International, the estate agency, estimates that departing Londoners bought 74,000 homes outside the capital last year. Rightmove, the property website, supports this too, with its data revealing a growing preference for houses with more rooms as well as garden space.

Businesses have taken note. Many now don’t envisage their staff returning to a city-centre office full-time in future; an Institute of Directors survey found three-quarters of executives intend to continue allowing more employees to work from home on a permanent basis.

Historically, London being the country’s most expensive place to live has necessitated a comprehensive affordable housing offering. As such, options like shared ownership are more established in the capital than in other parts of the country. As some Londoners consider whether to move out, however, demand for rural housing will continue to cause prices to increase – at almost twice the rate of the capital in the south of England.

Open-market affordability is a problem outside the M25 as well as inside it. It’s another reason why community land trusts (CLTs) are proving to be so important, especially in rural locations where supply is low and communities are crying out for affordable housing provision for local people.

Although not as restrictive as the capital, prices in areas such as Hampshire and Wiltshire still exclude the majority of people and, of course, these counties don’t have London’s social and affordable housing infrastructure. We should be questioning whether such places are equipped to deal with increased demand from those who want to swap the city bustle for a quieter life in the country.

Living within a commutable distance from the city centre is still possible for many thanks to shared ownership. The average cash deposit of £24,600 on a shared ownership home is a fraction of the £109,885 a typical first-time buyer puts down for an open-market home in London.

But the picture is a little different 70 miles outside the city. Homes in counties such as Hampshire sell for £568,649 on average, with the typical price in the village of Soberton in the Meon Valley soaring to £957,000. The story is similar in the South West, where Wiltshire homes have an average price of £319,768, reaching £780,500 in the village of Box.

Affordability is just as much of an issue in some rural areas as it is in London, and an increase in demand for countryside homes will make this far more apparent unless we ramp up the availability of alternatives to private rent and open-market sale.

As a housing association spanning the south of England, Aster experienced a major spike in interest in our shared ownership houses during the months following the first lockdown. Since then, enquiries have consistently remained three times higher than they were before the pandemic. While we completed 400 shared ownership homes in our last financial year, we also know that the demand we’re seeing for the tenure requires even more from us. That’s why we’re planning to increase our portfolio by more than 70% by 2024.

Once viewed as a lesser alternative to renting or buying, shared ownership is a way of helping people live the lifestyles they want, where they want. As the vision of a dream home and location shifts, it will be an essential part of the mix of housing options needed to ensure areas outside London are equipped to cater for an influx of new residents.