The UK's Internal Migration: An RIBA Architect's Perspective

The post-pandemic narrative of a ‘City Exodus’ is stabilising. Internal migration departures from London are now at their lowest in a decade. For architects and planners, this slowdown is not a return to normal but an opportunity to address the structural failures in spatial planning and housing delivery.

The reduced outflow does not signal revived enthusiasm for urban living; rather, it reflects the inability of receiving towns and rural areas to provide sufficient, affordable, high-quality housing.

Development spreading from cities to rural areas

Agglomeration vs. Displacement

Cities rely on the economic benefits of agglomeration, attracting young professionals to hubs like London, Manchester, and Leeds. Yet these same cities cannot house the talent they draw. Nearly half of renters in their 20s left London in 2023 due to unaffordable housing, undermining the productivity advantages urban density should deliver.

To retain this demographic, we need intelligent densification. Purpose Built Young Professional Accommodation (PBYPA) proposes compact, centrally located units exempt from rigid space standards. The question for architects is whether affordability and location justify space-standard flexibility. Success requires human-centred design with strong shared spaces and high-quality micro-units—density without losing dignity.

The Exported Design Crisis

The slowed exodus stems from limited suitable housing outside major cities. Early post-Covid migration drove rural and coastal prices sharply upward, exposing deep weaknesses in exurban planning:

• Social Housing Gap: Rural social housing waiting lists rose 31% from 2019–2022, compared with 3% in urban areas—an additional 46,318 households waiting.

• Key Worker Displacement: Rising costs are pushing essential workers out of the communities they support.

This represents a systemic failure to deliver mixed-tenure, equitable housing across the wider metropolitan region. With hybrid work stabilising at 25–27%, sustainable planning for the full Daily Urban System requires robust housing provision beyond commuter belts.

The Internal Shift in the Home

Hybrid work has permanently reshaped domestic space. Client briefs now routinely demand dedicated, insulated work areas; the ad-hoc kitchen desk is obsolete. The desire for larger, more flexible homes—initially a push factor in the exodus—is now a fixed requirement of the hybrid workforce. Housing strategy must therefore address unit size, adaptability, and internal program, not just location.

Plan layouts are changing to suit home-working needs

Strategic Imperatives

The profession must act on two fronts: strengthening urban housing and planning coherently beyond city boundaries.

• Redefine Urban Density: Support policy reforms enabling well-designed, central density with affordability and liveability at the forefront, even where space standards are flexibly approached.

• Unlock Exurban Supply: Secure long-term investment in rural social and affordable housing to restore mobility and prevent community displacement.

• Integrate Planning: Acknowledge hybrid work’s permanence by designing mixed-use, walkable suburban centres for a distributed workforce.

• Design the Dual-Function Home: Embed home-workspace capability into new standards so units can support simultaneous living and working without compromising quality.

  
  

A viable urban future for the UK depends on a combined strategy: metropolitan-scale planning paired with thoughtful, flexible residential design.