More than 420,000 people quit London in a year, according to the latest figures, many of them in search of a better life. The exodus led to the first fall in the city’s population for 37 years.
Nearly 155,000 people moved out of the capital to its commuter belt or the wider South East, far outnumbering the 88,500 who headed in the opposite direction. The boroughs seeing the highest numbers of people departing the capital were Newham, Lambeth, Tower Hamlets, Wandsworth, Ealing and Southwark.
Buckinghamshire tops the list
In the home counties, Buckinghamshire saw the most new arrivals from the city in the year to June 2025, at 11,414, according to a detailed analysis of the data from the Office for National Statistics.
Some families and other movers will have been attracted by the array of historic, county, market and other towns that the county boasts with fast access to beautiful, rolling countryside. They include Aylesbury, High Wycombe, Beaconsfield, Amersham, Marlow, Chesham and Princes Risborough, nestling near the Chiltern Hills and not far from the Prime Minister’s country residence of Chequers.
Some parents will have opted for Buckinghamshire for its fully-selective secondary school system, with 13 grammar schools.
Eastward movement and other hotspots
Moving out of the capital may also mean some people can afford a bigger home, with house prices and rents lower in some areas, and also enjoy more green spaces. Such opportunities were dramatically opened up by the shift to working from home sparked by the Covid pandemic and which continues despite a shift back to the office for some employees. One downside, though, for those still working in the capital, is often a longer commute.
As some Londoners head west, a large number are moving east. The Thurrock local authority area in Essex saw the second highest number of London leavers, 6,725, who are going to the home counties. Some of them will have been attracted by the job opportunities in the town of Grays and other areas along the north bank of The Thames including Tilbury Port.
In third place was the Epping Forest district, at 6,216, then Dartford 6,184, followed by Medway in Kent 5,811. Basildon was in 10th place, luring 4,699 Londoners, and Chelmsford 16th with 3,900.
West and south destinations
Swinging back west to the hi-tech M4 corridor which could be significantly boosted by a third runway at Heathrow, Slough was the sixth most popular destination for people quitting the capital, with 5,741 moving there, significantly more than Reading in 18th place, with 3,689.
In seventh place, with 5,675 capital leavers, was the affluent Surrey borough of Elmbridge, which includes Esher, Cobham and Walton-on-Thames. Hugging London, in the same county, are both Spelthorne where Shepperton Studios are located and which was in 8th place, with a outflow from the city of 4,993, and Epsom and Ewell, 20th with 3,544.
Looking north of London, Hertsmere, in 9th place, attracted 4,809 newcomers from the city, including film lovers who will now have on their doorstep Elstree Film Studios, the birthplace of Star Wars and home to Strictly Come Dancing, Sherlock Holmes and The Kings Speech. The 160 acres of Aldenham Country Park also offers parkland, farmland and lakeside walks which are difficult to find in the capital.
Staying north, Broxbourne, in Hertfordshire, was in 12th place, with 4,414 Londoners heading there and Watford 13th, with 4,155.
In the south and straddling the M25, the borough of Reigate and Banstead has good access to the Surrey Hills and is in 11th place, with 4,598 Londoners choosing to relocate there. Moving around the M25 anti-clockwise takes you to the hilly town of Sevenoaks, in Kent, standing at a height of over 600 feet, and in 14th with 4,041 London leavers.
The historic city of Canterbury, further out east in Kent, was the destination for 3,917 people moving out of the capital, placing it in 15th position. Guildford, which boasts two cathedrals yet remains the county town of Surrey rather than a city, is in 17th place, on 3,898. The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, home to Windsor Castle, enticed 3,564 people from the city to find a new home there, putting it 19th.
