Twenty7tec has reported a surge in purchase mortgage searches in six major northern cities: Leeds, Bradford, Newcastle, Liverpool, Manchester, and Sheffield.

The latest data reveals that these cities now account for 10.99% of all purchase mortgage search activity, marking a 67.1% increase from April last year. Year to date, the activity in these Northern cities is up 29.5% as a proportion of all searches.

The technology platform provider said this rise in demand highlights a broader shift in the UK housing market, with more buyers looking beyond the capital for affordable housing opportunities and quality of life improvements.

Nathan Reilly, director of customer relationships & operations at Twenty7tec, said: “When we look at purchase searches and compare them to this time last year, we can see just how much the demand for houses in the northern market has grown. Of all the purchase searches taking place, there’s a higher proportion for the northern six cities than there’s ever been since we started reporting 10 years ago.

“When we look at the first-time buyer market, the numbers are disproportionately in favour of the North Six over London; last month alone, the northern six activity was up 72.9% compared to this time last year and on a year-to-date basis, searches for first-time buyers in the North are up 13.3%.

“This could be due to a number of things: the growth in digital nomads who can now work from anywhere, or simply people are gravitating to the North just to get their foot on the property ladder and away from the renters’ market in London.”