Record middle class exodus

A record number of the middle classes are leaving inner London for the suburbs, new figures have revealed.

They show more than 150,000 people a year are moving to escape crime, poor transport and down-at-heel neighbourhoods. In some boroughs, such as Wandsworth and Westminster, more than one in 10 families moved out.

The flight to the suburbs is also having a massive impact on the capital's social and racial mix. Those moving out are predominantly middle-class residents searching for better schools, green spaces and a low crime rate.

But despite the unparalleled exodus, the population of Greater London has risen by 627,000 to 8.3 million in the past decade. Numbers have been buoyed by an influx of young people - the under 29s make up 13.5 per cent of urban populations - and high numbers of people arriving from abroad.

Figures from the 2001 census, released for the first time, show the middle class exodus is highest in the most prosperous boroughs. In 2000, Westminster, Wandsworth, Islington, Camden and Hammersmith all saw more than 10 per cent move out.

Westminster and Wandsworth lost 11 per cent of their populations. However, the population of both boroughs rose over the same period as new people came in.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) about one in 40 people in Wandsworth and one in 20 in Westminster counted by the 2001 census had arrived from abroad the previous year.

The boroughs also saw a rise in their ethnic minority populations. In Wandsworth, minorities make up just under a fifth of the population, while in Westminster they now represent more than a quarter. The data raise the

prospect that London could suffer from the US phenomenon of "donuting" - where the flight of the middle classes has left a "hole" in city centres.

The ONS figures coincided with a report showing home buyers place parks, good transport links and decent schools and shops as their priorities.

A survey for One Account found professionals were placing personal happiness above a big salary and lucrative job in the city.