www.removalreviews.co.uk, part of World Media Group, one of the most trusted removal company review websites in the UK, is reporting the highest ever recorded number of visitors to its website, with organic search up a massive 88.9% on this time last year.
There is some interesting data that they have released about where people are moving, who is moving, and what they have learned about the home moving market in 2020 so far.
- People are leaving the cities for bigger homes and a better quality of life in large numbers
- 20% of people looking for a quote for their home move are in London
- The number of 18-24-year-olds moving home has increased by nearly 10% compared with 2019
- Smaller home moves increase by 8% whilst 4 bedroom size home moves decrease by 8%
- Ireland tops the list as the most popular place to emigrate to with a 45% increase in people requesting removal company quotes to move them there
- Removal companies are expanding their areas of operation in response to customer need
The beginning of 2020 saw the continued growth of people looking to move home, with a strong year ahead forecast by most in the removal industry, but no one could have foreseen what was about to happen.
Covid-19 put the brakes on the housing market and people found themselves in lockdown, whether in the UK or overseas.
Not surprisingly, the lockdown months of March and April saw a decline in people seeking the services of Removal Companies, by up to 64% compared with the same time the previous year.
Ivelin Donchev from Best London Removals told us how the lockdown affected his company “During the lockdown we had only 1-2 teams operating. We were mostly moving out customers who were in lockdown abroad, collecting their items and delivering them to a storage unit so that they could end their tenancy and not pay expensive rent here in London”.
June saw people start to contemplate relocating, and searches for information about moving home soared. But people were still unsure as to what the future held, and as Ivelin says “The end of lockdown saw many people postponing or canceling their home move”
On July 10th, the government announced the stamp duty tax holiday and RemovalReviews saw unprecedented traffic to their website, an increase of 179.17% on the previous year for the traditionally busy month of July.
That trend continues as more and more people find the homes they want to buy and more home sales are completed.
Where are People Moving From?
Between June 1st and the end of September 2020, the majority of moves were for people relocating away from the main cities of the UK to the suburbs and more rural locations, with a significant amount of interest in those looking to move overseas.
London currently has a very active housing market with over 20% of RemovalReview visitors looking for a removal company in London.
Przemyslaw Mierzejewski of Giant Removals in London told us “Since the pandemic restrictions have been eased, and the stamp duty holiday announced, we have seen a huge increase in work in London. We run removal services all over the country and moves from London to Manchester have been incredibly busy recently. We would usually be coming into the quieter months of the year, but there seems to be still a large number of people looking to move home”
From the data collated by www.removalreviews.co.uk between June and September of this year, here are the top 10 places that people are moving from, with the percentage share of web traffic for the whole of the UK.
- London 20.30%
- Birmingham 1.88%
- Bristol 1.85%
- Glasgow 1.60%
- Manchester 1.38%
- Edinburgh 1.24%
- Leeds 1.20%
- Nottingham 1.19%
- Newcastle Upon Tyne 1.18%
- Liverpool 1.16%
Ivelin tells us what has changed for Best London Removals since the housing market took off after lockdown “We have seen a definite rise in the number of people moving home recently. Around 60% of our moves are still within the M25 orbit of London, but a significant number, around 40%, are from people selling their property in London and moving out of the capital to places such as Reading, Basingstoke, Exeter, and Devon”.
“People moving out of London are moving to bigger homes (you can sell a 3 bed flat in Richmond for £700-£800k and buy a 4+ bed house in Basingstoke, just an hour away from central London by train, for £400-£500k)”
“Customers within London are moving to the same type of property, but in better areas, or to bigger homes in the same postcode area. We are seeing very few people downsizing, as little as 5-10% of those moving home”
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