The London housing market is now falling a few notches for buyers looking to purchase second homes. Outside the capital city however is a different story entirely. Much of the property wealth is now moving outside the city limits into areas which are taxed less. The Home Counties are especially heating up with new purchases as the April 1 stamp deadline has now passed. The latest stamp duty did trigger a major hike in the number of houses sold in the country during the first quarter of the year.

The London market has been outperformed during the first quarter of the year. Prices in the capital city have decreased by 0.3% compared with the quarter prior.

Lucian Cook of Savills commented on the latest data regarding the London market, saying: “Previously buyers have been reluctant to trade out of the London market given the extent to which its value has been rising.

“This is now much less of a concern. The stamp duty costs of upsizing in the capital and limits on what can be borrowed are acting as catalysts for a greater flow of wealth into the prime regional housing markets.”

Londoners have seen big increases in the value of their property portfolios in recent years, but those days seem to now be in the past.

Sophie Chick, associate director of Savills residential research, commented on the impact of the new stamp duty, saying: “If you’re living in London you will have benefited from high price rises, but it’s unlikely that you can upsize in the same area due to stamp duty costs and the constrained amount you can borrow.

“To get this extra space, growing families are looking outside of London and into that commuter belt. We have been anticipating this to happen for a very long time and we are finally seeing this movement.”