Escape to the country: Brits ditch city life for rural idyll

Younger people and families are increasingly trading city skylines for countryside calm, as the UK undergoes an ever-evolving transformation and one that businesses, charities and public sector organisations need to wake up to – and fast.

That is just one of the key insights from the eighth release of Mosaic, Experian’s classification and segmentation tool – now driven by AI, naturally – which reveals major changes in how and where people choose to live, driven by rising living costs, flexible working, and the desire for more space.

With expanded classifications of households into 18 groups and 68 types combined with additional consumer data, it claimed that Mosaic offers a deeper, more detailed view of evolving lifestyles across the country.

Two Mosaic groups in particular – High-Flying Metropolitans and Successful City Families – are leading the shift away from major cities. Over the past five years, 21% of these households have relocated from London, with similar patterns emerging in Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, and Leeds.

For High-Flying Metropolitans, Manchester recorded the highest number of movers after London, while Leeds has seen the fewest. Successful City Families showed a slightly different pattern. While cities like London, Manchester, and Birmingham have seen fewer families from this group staying, Liverpool and Leeds are bucking the trend — attracting more families and highlighting the continued appeal of certain urban centres for family life.

Driven by the search for more space, affordable homes and access to nature – without losing city connections – a wider range of families, age groups, and lifestyles is now settling in the countryside.

Five years ago, two-thirds of the rural population fell into just two Mosaic groups and seven segment types. This has now expanded into four groups and 12 segment types: Country Heritage, Upmarket Commuters, Respectable Retirement, and Modest Meadows.

A new type of mover has also emerged – Greenfield Dreamers. These are successful professionals with children who have moved into newly built homes in rural developments. Enabled by the rise of remote and hybrid working, they are choosing larger properties in commutable countryside locations, blending career continuity with a better quality of life.

In addition, far from being disconnected, today’s countryside residents are highly digital. The four Mosaic groups most likely to use online grocery and delivery services are all rural-based, as are many of the top spenders on health and beauty products – highlighting a growing demand for convenience and lifestyle-driven services in non-urban areas.

In 2025, more families are living together across generations, driven by the need for elderly care and childcare support, as well as the cost of housing that has left many young adults unable to get on the property ladder or secure a tenancy independently, and have returned home to save for a deposit.

As a result, many working parents often have grandparents and young and adult children under one roof. Experian identified three types most likely to contain these households, which cover different demographics, income brackets, and city and country locations: Close Kin city dwellers, suburban Family Collectives, and firmly out-of-town Rural Kinship households.

Experian Marketing Services UK&I managing director Colin Grieves said: “These trends, if permanent, mark a fascinating change in the make-up of the UK and its communities. Younger homeowners, families and professionals are clearly casting their net wider when it comes to where they want to call home, enjoying the benefits of rural living without compromising their careers, thanks to flexible working.

“These shifts raise important questions for local authorities, town planners, and businesses, who will have to continue to adapt to meet the needs of these new communities. At the same time, the number of residents moving away from city centres challenges planners and marketers to reimagine urban living. Revitalising centres with retail and cultural experiences could be key to drawing people back.”