YORK welcomed almost 15,000 new residents in the latest year amid a growing demand for housing and lifestyle changes in the pandemic.

It comes after calls for more affordable housing in the area by councillors who claim families are seeing their children and loved ones pushed out of the city by rising prices.

Estate agents previously told The Press how York had become a top location for Londoners looking to relocate after a permanent move to homeworking.

Newly released figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) back up this trend with 14,948 people finding a new life in York. Meanwhile 16,215 York residents migrated to other areas in the UK.

While the ONS figures are up to June 2020, it gives us an indication that the city is attracting new residents from further afield - as homebuyers seek a life with a balance between nature and city living.

Their data looks at where people have moved from one local authority area to another. 

The top areas that people moved from to the City of York Council area include:

  • Leeds - 804
  • East Riding of Yorkshire - 651
  • Selby - 436
  • Sheffield - 335
  • Ryedale - 321
  • Newcastle Upon Tyne - 307
  • Harrogate - 304
  • Hambleton - 279
  • County Durham - 270
  • Kirklees - 240
  • Bradford - 226
  • Wakefield - 221
  • Kingston upon Hull/City of - 221
  • Scotland - 196
  • Scarborough - 193
  • Manchester - 174
  • Liverpool - 149
  • Doncaster - 133
  • Calderdale - 133
  • Northumberland - 142
  • Cheshire East - 114
  • Nottingham - 107
  • Stockton-on-Tees - 106
  • Cambridge - 102

Where people from York have relocated to

  • East Riding of Yorkshire - 1,066
  • Leeds - 981
  • Selby - 978
  • Hambleton - 470
  • Harrogate - 432
  • Newcastle - 414
  • Ryedale - 405
  • Sheffield - 402
  • County Durham - 271
  • Manchester - 268
  • Scarborough - 235
  • Wakefield - 225
  • Bradford - 181
  • Kirklees - 156
  • Cambridge - 150
  • Liverpool - 138
  • Lambeth - 137
  • Doncaster - 127
  • Birmingham - 126
  • Northumberland - 119
  • Bristol - 118
  • Nottingham - 111
  • Wandsworth - 111
  • Southwark - 105

Why are people moving to York

Londoners are one of the key groups of people identified as driving the city's property market.

Two estate agents told us that many are searching for a lifestyle change, more nature and less expensive living as home working becomes a permanent option for some businesses.

Ben Hudson, managing director at Hudson Moody Estate Agents, said: "A lot of people have reevaluated where they're living. Homes have become more important. As they spend more time they appreciate they need more space. People with bigger houses have felt like 'We might as well down size'. We've also seen a lot of people moving from outside the area who have been told they don't need to work in the South, they can work wherever they want."

He added: "They've sold up in London and they've got deeper pockets. Now a lot of the viewings are for people who sold up and moved back to be closer to family and friends."

Simon Cartwright, co-director at Indigo Greens Estate Agents, said there was also a pull to countryside living.

Mr Cartwright said: "We're getting a high number of people who have been maybe living in the city and want to move out to the countryside but at the same time we've had a number of people who are coming from out of the area like from London.

"Because of the work from home things now, they were able to move here and get more for their money property wise. They don't have to be in London."

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