House prices surge in the suburbs as buyers look for spacious houses with bigger gardens
City slickers have been flocking to the suburbs during the pandemic, driving up house prices outside the usual busy hotspots.
Prices in areas surrounding Britain’s major cities have shot up 10.8 per cent since March last year, according to data from lender Halifax.
The cost of a property in city centres, meanwhile, has risen by 8.9 per cent.
Soaring suburbia: Prices in areas surrounding Britain’s major cities have shot up 10.8 per cent since March last year
As the pandemic ravaged the UK, shutting workers in their homes, buyers began to look for more spacious houses with bigger gardens.
The Government’s stamp duty cut added a further incentive to buy bigger, family-sized homes for those who could afford them.
Andrew Asaam, mortgages director at Halifax, said many of their customers ‘have prioritised space over location as a result of more time spent at home over the last year and a half’.
‘As consumers look for value in the market, that inevitably leads people to look further afield from major city centres,’ he said.