United Kingdom: Temporal change in internal migration

This chapter discusses migration trends in the UK, a state that is middle ranking in migration intensity. It outlines the problems in constructing a consistent long-term time series across the constituent countries of the UK and considers the datasets that can be used to overcome these. The analysis explores trends in migration by distance of move and also by geographical area with a special focus on the North/South Divide and London. Its chief findings are that there is no evidence that the inter-regional migration rate has trended down since the 1970s but that it has varied cyclically according to the state of the economy. Flows across the North/South Divide and between London and the rest of the country exhibit similar cyclical patterns. However, there is evidence that the rate of shorter-distance moving has declined since the 1970s. Possible causes for the patterns observed across all spatial scales include stickiness in the housing market, the expansion of higher education, and the substitution of other types of mobility for address-changing. The economic fortunes of London also seem to be of key importance given its dominance within the UK. Further work to clarify the relationship between internal and international migration intensities is advocated.