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.
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.
UK Population May Have Seen Largest Fall Since World War II, Study Suggests
The total population of Britain could have fallen by more than 1.3 million during the CCP virus pandemic, mostly as a result of an exodus of non-UK born people, new research suggests.
This would be the largest fall in the UK resident population since World War II, according to researchers from the Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence (ESCoE), a UK government-funded think tank that focuses on economic measurement.
More Accurate Estimate
The study’s figures are in stark contrast to those of the Office for National Statistics, which estimated a population rise of about 350,000 for the same period, but doesn’t take into account changes in population growth forecasts caused by the pandemic, the authors say.