For Relocators
Understanding Relocation Costs: A Comprehensive Guide
November 28, 2024
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A warm welcome to the December issue of PerchPeek’s UK Market Monthly update!
Here’s where you’ll find the hottest updates around employee relocation and international talent strategy, insights from our experts on housing and cost-of-living news affecting your staff, the latest trends in global mobility, and tips and tricks on ways to support your teams.
A fly-by summary
● How to help home-hunting staff prepare for a flurry of property listings come January
● Renters Reform Bill to come in 2023: what this means for UK renters
● Latest census figures show London remains a huge global hub for international talent: how to build this into your people strategy
● UK hiring trends report shows optimism: eight out of 10 employers plan to hire in 2023, 79% plan to increase salaries and 93% have had skills shortages they wish to rectify
● PerchPeek’s 2022 in numbers: From rental market stats to our biggest destinations, here’s what we’ve learned in 2022, and how this could help you support your team!
If you read our last issue, you’ll be armed with key knowledge about the annual slowdown of the rental market over the Christmas and New Year period, ready to support home-hunting staff.
While it’s certainly a slow time in terms of arranging viewings and signing contracts, things start hotting up on property sites as soon as Christmas Day is over. Rightmove and Zoopla see a big surge in traffic over ‘Twixmas’; in fact Zoopla has reported a 70% traffic increase on Boxing Day!
26th December now marks the start of the property site traffic surge that continues into January. Picture the scene: people sit around with family, feeling too full of roast potatoes and mince pies to move, and instead start browsing property sites, imagining a fresh start in a new home…
This renewed determination to move home means January sees a lot of properties changing hands, so those looking to rent should expect to see a flurry of new postings in the new year.
Our best festive tip: To support employees looking for a home, advise them to be on the starting blocks on 2nd January (or before), trawling sites for new listings. In such a tough rental market there’ll be a lot of competition, and being first to enquire means the best chance of success!
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has recently released migration figures from the latest census taken of residents in England and Wales. Here’s a snapshot of the most significant findings from a People Leader perspective!
How has migration changed in the last 10 years?
● In 2021, 10 million residents were born outside the UK - 16.8% of the total population
● In comparison, in 2011 there were 7.5 million people born outside the country (13.4%)
● This proportional rise shows migration is growing faster than the population as a whole, indicating that immigration is more and more crucial to the UK economy and way of life
Where are people moving from?
● India had the top spot, with 920,000 people (1.5% of all residents) born there
● This was followed by Poland, Pakistan, Romania and the Republic of Ireland
Spotlight on London
● London has both the largest number and largest proportion of non-UK-born residents
● On average, more than four in 10 (40.6%) of London residents were born outside the UK
● For the boroughs of Brent, Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea, it’s over 53%
This new data shows London remains one of the world’s most multicultural and cosmopolitan cities, continuing to attract a huge number of workers from abroad. As People leaders there’s a huge opportunity to take advantage of this expansive international talent pool.
Using this data to offer advice around London demographics is also a great way to support your movers. For some, factors like living near people from their own background may play a strong part in choosing a place to live, and is likely to make the transition easier. Boroughs with a large immigrant community are also likely to have the best settling-in services from the local council.
We’ve all been dealing with ongoing hiring freezes this year, primarily in the tech industry but across a variety of sectors, but looking ahead to 2023, we’re seeing reasons to be optimistic.
Key people strategy insights from the Hays Salary & Recruiting Trends Guide 2023:
● Four out of five UK employers plan on hiring over the next year, out of a pool of more than 13,000 employers and professionals across the country
● 83% of companies increased their employees’ salaries this year (with 54% attributing this to the rise in the cost of living) and 79% plan to increase salaries in 2023
● 93% of employers have experienced skills shortages over the past year, and in order to plug their worker gaps, 72% are willing to hire without all the necessary skills
This data shows there are expectations for hiring to pick up in 2023, despite current economic concerns, and for the challenges around talent retention to be tackled directly.
Our advice is:
● To review compensation packages and keep them competitive to be able to attract and retain the best talent - and perhaps even be prepared for an extra influx of applicants when things start to pick up; tech solutions can really help stay on top of things here.
● To act early on recruitment strategies if possible, to capitalise on the opportunities available in the first half of the year - there may be a smaller talent pool in later months.
If you’re a People Leader supporting international staff, you’ll be well aware of the challenges that incoming employees face when up against the UK rental system! There have long been calls for this system to be reformed; in 2019 the government made a manifesto pledge to provide a ‘better deal for renters’, but we’re still waiting…
According to the UK’s housing minister, the legislation, known as the Renters Reform Bill and aimed at increasing tenants’ formal protections, will be introduced to parliament in 2023. If it goes through, it’ll be the biggest shakeup of the UK rental system in over 30 years!
Though nothing is confirmed yet, the key proposals that would positively impact renters are:
● Abolition of ‘no-fault’ section 21 evictions, which currently enable landlords to evict tenants at short notice for no reason
● Abolition of contractual rent review clauses; instead the suggestion is to bring in a standard statute instead, with one rent review permitted per year
Should it pass, the bill would undoubtedly provide more security and protection for tenants; therefore wellbeing would be improved for employees already in rental properties. Plus, it would make relocating to the UK a more attractive prospect for new talent.
On the other hand, landlords may feel restricted by the new rules and vote with their feet by selling up, leading to fewer rental properties on the market and putting more pressure on it. We advise staying close to this topic as it develops, as either way it’ll impact the rental market.
This year we’ve seen a lot of developments in international talent strategy. Diving into the data, here’s what we’ve learned from the many moves we’ve managed in 2022:
● With the rise of tech-based solutions and flexible budget options, HR teams can use relocation to access talent at all levels, no longer just executives. In 2022 we’ve helped over 2,250 people start their relocation journey to 28 countries around the world.
● The UK has a massive draw and equally massive demand for international talent - it is our third biggest relocation destination in terms of mover volume. London is where two-thirds of our UK movers go, and nearly half come from India and the US.
● The UK rental market (especially London) remains extremely competitive. It really varies based on a mover’s budget and other needs, but on average it’s taken 20-25 enquiries and 15 viewings to secure a rental property. Perseverance and resilience on the part of the mover are key, and HR can support by offering employees flexibility and patience.
● With a tricky rental market and complex processes to follow, movers have a lot of questions and are super grateful for relocation advice. In our app, our relocation experts exchange an average of 500 instant messages with each mover!
● Relocation support can be a crucial factor in employees deciding to take a job, and we love to see the value it delivers for every mover. We’re so proud to be rated 4.9 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot from over 300 reviews - we can’t wait to build on this in 2023!
We hope you enjoyed this month’s update, and wish you a happy and restful holiday season.
If you ever have any feedback, comments or questions about what's happening in your location, feel free to reach out via the form below!
Thanks for reading, and see you in the new year!
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We hope you found this update insightful! We’d love to hear your thoughts.
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