More than a third of the 1,000 most expensive properties were manufactured outside of London

London-based homebuyers are leaving the capital and fleeing to the leafy Home Counties, research suggests.

The city’s wealthiest men and women are looking for more rural and suburban homes in Surrey, Buckinghamshire and Hampshire.

More than 34% of the top 1,000 home purchases in the UK were made outside of London this year – a record jump of 45% in 12 months, according to Locate Acumen, a prop tech company.

Earlier this year the number of properties worth £1million was found to have risen for the first time since 2015, with one in 42 homes worth £1million or more, the Telegraph reported.

The city’s richest men and women are looking for more rural and suburban homes in Surrey, Buckinghamshire and Hampshire

Research suggests tenants are yearning for more green space as people are confined to their homes post-lockdown.

An increasing number of professionals are spending more time at their digs, with a third of people continuing to work from home part of the week.

Three years ago, only 15 percent of the most expensive sales were made outside of the city.

Rows of apartment buildings in London. Earlier this year it was noted that the number of million pound properties has risen for the first time since 2015, with one in 42 homes worth £1million or more

Although London continues to dominate big sales, Surrey was now the second most popular location for new homes.

With the exception of the Big Smoke, the borough had the largest share of high-price tags, with more than four out of five of the nation’s most expensive homes this year.

The second most popular destination for large ticket sales was Buckinghamshire (32), followed by Herfordshire (28) and Hampshire (26).

Meanwhile, demand for high-end housing in Kensington and Chelsea fell 45 percent year-on-year to 154.

At the same time, Westminster sales fell 50 percent and Camden demand fell 36 percent.

A large family home in Suffolk. Demand for homes in the Home Counties is through the roof

Search Acumen said the drop in demand was due to the loss of international buyers from London’s once red-hot market.

However, according to Bloomberg, the same group has bought 48 percent of prime homes in central London this year

That number is up from 35 per cent in 2021, when the UK was hit by a raft of restrictions and lockdown measures.

Research has found that the cost of living has fallen sharply for the top 0.1 per cent living outside of London.

The average price paid for the top 1,000 sales so far this year has been £3.4m – around half of the £6.3m spent in 2021.

With the exception of the Big Smoke, Surrey (pictured) has had the largest share of high price tags, with more than four out of five of the country’s most expensive homes this year.

Loughborough University found in 2020 that even a basic standard of living was up to 58 per cent more expensive than other urban areas in the UK.

Search Acumen’s Andy Somerville said: “The days of London being the preferred location for quality home buying are increasingly behind us as high-spend homebuyers look to invest their time and money in places outside of the capital.”

Dawn Carritt, of Jackson-Stops estate agents, said: “Key to this rebalancing has been the emptiness of international buyers during lockdown.”

“Offers being made now feel a lot more realistic than this time last year. Buyers don’t want to participate in the bidding wars that we sometimes saw six months ago.’