Londoners buying lowest share of property outside capital since 2013

Properties in Kent. House prices have risen 26% outside the capital over the last five years, triple the 8% pace recorded in London. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

Londoners are buying the lowest share of houses outside the capital in more than a decade as their moving plans are curtailed by a stalling local market and the shift back to office working.

They were behind just 5.3% of house purchases elsewhere in the country in the first seven months of this year, the lowest proportion since 2013, research has found.