House searches have surged in one area of Liverpool as workers return back to their offices following the easing of coronavirus restrictions.
In March 2020 everyone in the UK was ordered to stay at home to protect the NHS during the pandemic.
People were only able to leave their home for shopping for groceries or essentials, medical needs and one form of exercise per day.
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Workers were also told they should not travel to and from work unless it was absolutely necessary and when they could not work from home.
This ushered in months of working from home for millions of people before all covid restrictions were lifted on July 19.
People in England were told they no longer had to work from home as Boris Johnson recommended a 'gradual return' for staff who'd worked remotely during the pandemic.
This return to the office has meant the volume of house hunters searching for properties near commuter stations surged between June and August.
Rightmove compared searches for stations across Britain in June 2021 with August 2021 to measure the impact of the gradual return to office working.
The research found a huge increase in buyer searches for homes near stations, including Liverpool Lime Street station.
Searches for properties near the station increased by 59% during these months, the second highest increase in the country.
Only Chelmsford had a higher with searches more than doubling during this period.
The rise in searches near commuter stations suggests more people are looking for a quicker route to work on office days, as people adopt flexible working routines, Rightmove said.
Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s director of property data, said: “While the demand to relocate or search for more space has by no means gone away, the numbers suggest that this will need to be balanced with easy transport access on office days, which has understandably been lower on the agenda for many over the last 18 months.”
Here are the top increases in buyer searches for homes near stations, comparing June with August, according to Rightmove:
1. Chelmsford Station, 107%
2. Liverpool Lime Street Station, 59%
3. Sittingbourne Station, 47%
=4. Crewe Station, 32%
=4. Hassocks Station, 32%
=4. MediaCityUK (Manchester) tram stop, 32%
=7. Southampton Central Station, 30%
=7. Chesterfield Station, 30%
9. Folkestone West Station, 27%
10. Kettering Station, 26%
