Rents in the Capital could plunge and house prices fall amid a mass exodus of workers during the coronavirus pandemic, experts have predicted.
A sudden drop in the population of the UK last year has led to a huge rise in vacancy rates in the London and Midlands rental markets, according to analysis by Capital Economics.
Labour market data suggests there was a mass exodus from the UK as foreign workers returned home, leading to a drop in the population of around two per cent.
If sustained, the increase in vacancy could cause rents to drop by as much as 20 per cent, according to property experts.
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Covid exodus: London s population may have plunged by 700,000 during pandemic
5 Feb, 2021 11:00 PM
5 minutes to read
Road cleaners at work in Ilford, London on January 29. Photo / AP
Daily Telegraph UK
By: Tom Rees
Even when the last Covid restrictions are lifted from London, there may be a little less bustle on its streets and elbow-jostling at its drinking dens.
One startling estimate that has caught the eye of economists warned the UK capital s population may have plunged by 700,000 during the pandemic. That would equate to an 8 per cent drop and be the first slump in London s population in more than 30 years.
Russia has a population of 146.2 million, according to newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta, citing the agency.
Experts attributed the decline mainly to the pandemic.
There were 229,700 more deaths between January and November 2020 than in the same period the previous year, an excess mortality rate of more than 13 percent, the agency said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has long called for greater efforts towards population growth. Last year, he blamed the trend on low incomes.
Experts say further causes are the migration of younger, well-educated people abroad and the low birth rate.
Similar trends
This month, statistics from Poland and the United Kingdom, have shown similar trends.