In the first three months of this year, 30 per cent of those buying through the Savills estate agency in the commuter belt, the network of towns and cities with suitable rail connections for those working in central London, were moving from the capital itself, reports The Guardian.

This compares with 23 per cent a year earlier, said Savills' Sophie Chick, a trend "likely to continue".

Research using Land Registry data suggests a move there could be lucrative: house prices fall on average by more than £3,000 for every minute travelled outside of London, which would equate to mortgage savings that would usually outweigh the increase in travel costs.

Chick credited the turnaround to a shift in the dynamic of the property market. After years during which central London was blazing a trail, with average prices surging well above £500,000, the wider south-east is widely expected to set the pace in the coming years. 

"We’ve been talking for so long about buyers moving out of London, but now we’ve reached a turning point. When prices were going up at such a rate in London, it was easy for people to say, 'We’ll sit tight before we move out,'" she said.

In contrast, central London property is starting to see comparatively more sluggish growth, in part because of a hike in stamp duty in 2014 that affected properties at the very top of the market.

Analysis by Knight Frank found that prime central London property increased by just 0.8 per cent in the year to March. Tom Bill, the head of London residential research at the firm, told The Times: "Typically, we are seeing asking prices coming down by 10 per cent or more just to get viewings."

He added that the market was adjusting after years of rapid price growth, rather than just reacting to the stamp duty change. "I think, under the surface, the market is quietly self-correcting," he said.

www.theweek.co.uk/