The Londoner

Many people’s fixation with the central London property market is on how to scramble on to its bottom rung. For others, the consideration is the opposite: namely whether to cash in and flee the capital. Leaving is not a simple decision. As my family drove north in 1989 to start a new life in a Cumbrian village after selling our home in Bayswater, my father warned: “This is a one-way ticket. We’ll never be able to move back to London.” Fast forward 26 years and my wife and I faced the quandary of whether to jump off the  central London property  ladder. We are moving to Nairobi for the Financial Times and had to decide what to do with our 2,000-square-foot house in Fulham. Should we sell or let it? Have London house prices peaked? If we sell, what would we do with the money? But if we rent, would the hassle be more than it’s worth? Our decision is one that faces not only Londoners working abroad, but couples marrying who both own a home, those thinking of ...