North-south divide widens

The north-south divide has worsened according to Savills data in the Times.

Savills reflect that in 2005 the average Greater London home cost £289,939, equal to one and a quarter homes in the south east, or just over two in Yorkshire or Wales. 

However, ten years on, and the average Greater London home hit £539,519 in 2015, an equivalent of more than three average homes in northern England, Wales or Scotland.

Lucian Cook from Savills comments -

“London’s housing market, particularly in the centre, was effectively over the recession by the end of 2009 and continued its recovery very quickly. Places like the north of England and much of Wales, by contrast, haven’t been able to do the same. They’ve less inward migration and so less demand, and they‘re still tackling some de-industrialisation”

London has also pulled away from other regions, such as the south-west, where the average house price ratio between London and the SW has increased from 1:1.5 in 2005, to 1:2 in 2015.

Cook goes on - 

“There’s been less of a ripple effect than usual from London to the rest of the south. Between 1995 and 2005, for example, London pulled away from the rest of the south but then those regions caught up. That hasn’t happened in the past 10 years.”

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