COVID-19 working causes a shift in London's property market

Boutique agency Radstock Property has noticed an increase in people seeking to move from East London to West as the pandemic changes how and where we work.

COVID-19 working causes a shift in London's property market

Boutique agency Radstock Property has noticed an increase in people seeking to move from East London to West as the pandemic changes how and where we work.

Roughly a third of Radstock Property’s buyers come from East London but in the three months to the end of February, the Battersea-based agency saw a 20% rise in applicants from the City and Canary Wharf compared to the previous three months.

The agency says a vast majority of these applicants are seeking to move to areas where they tend to spend most time in the evenings and at weekends, ranging from Balham, Barnes and Belgravia to Chelsea, Putney and Pimlico.

George Franks, co-founder at Radstock Property, said: “It’s well known that the pandemic has changed the way we work and has influenced what people are looking for in property as a result.

"In London, we’re seeing a material increase in City workers who live close to the office as they have traditionally spent so much time there, now moving to West London where they tend to shop and socialise.

"They are able to do this as they are increasingly working remotely and are not chained to their desks from dawn to dusk each day.

"This trend has really accelerated during the past three months, as it has become clearer that the ‘Zoomification’ of work will not suddenly end once the pandemic is over.

"It’s no exaggeration to say we are witnessing a fundamental recalibration in the capital’s property market.”