Northerners move shorter distances than southerners | Alex Johnson | Independent Property Blogs

Northerners move shorter distances than southerners | Alex Johnson | Independent Property Blogs

People moving house in the south of England move twice as far on average as those in the industrial north, even though the distance they travel to work is similar.
The research by Professor Mike Coombes of Newcastle University for the Royal Geographical Society shows that commuters in the north are not less willing than southerners to travel daily to reach available jobs, but when they do move house northerners – and particularly those in the Pennine region‘s old industrial towns – tend to move much shorter distances.

“There seems to be a stronger sense of loyalty to one’s local town in the north of England,” said Professor Coombes. “People living in Bolton for instance, are unlikely to move to Wigan for whatever reason, while in the south of England people might move anywhere within the same county with little loss to their sense of identity.”

Meanwhile, a survey by the Nationwide Building Society looks at why some people have decided not to move at all. It shows that: