Meet the People shifting to London to flee President Trump 2.0

Erin Lytwyn and her husband, Daniel Walker-Murray, had deliberate to depart London and transfer again to the USA after welcoming their daughter, Charlotte, 10 months in the past. “We have been authorised within the US to purchase a home and get a mortgage,” she says.

However when Donald Trump was re-elected in November final 12 months the couple, who’re 36 and 34, modified their minds and acquired a home in Camden as a substitute.

“Trump began making a number of scary strikes, just like the folks he’s appointed, and it made us take into consideration what was vital for us,” says Lytwyn, who works in cloud gross sales for Google and has lived in London for simply over two years.

She finds Trump’s insurance policies on deportation and immigration significantly objectionable. “Daniel is from Colorado, which has a deeply rooted relationship with Mexico and El Salvador,” she says.

“Trump is saying he’s going to deport hundreds of thousands of individuals on his first day in workplace — it’s exhausting residing in a rustic the place folks have lived for 30 years and may be eliminated.”

Whereas Lytwyn is aware of immigration is a matter within the UK, she says “there’s not the identical stage of racism. It’s a extra balanced and equal tradition”.

The info backs up this shift throughout the Atlantic. Google searches within the US for “shifting overseas” and “learn how to to migrate” hit file highs final 12 months, whereas the UK-based Immigration Recommendation Service reported a 500 per cent surge in US site visitors to its web site.

In a latest research of 1,000 US residents, it additionally discovered that 25 per cent have been contemplating relocating overseas, with curiosity significantly excessive amongst these residing on the more-liberal east and west coasts.

Forty-seven per cent of Los Angeles residents and 35 per cent of New Yorkers have been contemplating a world transfer. Twenty-nine per cent cited Canada as their most well-liked vacation spot and the UK got here in second place, at 19 per cent.

Lytwyn has a twin sister in Los Angeles. Following Trump’s victory she instantly began trying into visas, colleges and locations to reside in London. She has now been evacuated from her residence due to the wildfires. “I’ve advised her to simply come right here,” Lytwyn says.

“Daniel additionally has a cousin who went on a visit to New Zealand and began trying into visas there after Trump obtained in. Apparently, the NZ visa web site crashed because the site visitors to it was so excessive.”

Past politics, Lytwyn has discovered different advantages to residing in London. “We now have a special lifestyle right here — we’re consistently strolling, and our child has been to 10 completely different international locations. We went to Spain at Christmas — it’s simply three hours from our home — and final 12 months we went to Cyprus.”

She additionally appreciates the healthcare system right here and the way straightforward it’s to get natural meals in contrast with within the US. Being from Connecticut, she says the gray winters don’t trouble her. “All of the People I do know right here really feel grateful we’re right here already; we really feel like we don’t should stand up and transfer,” she says.

Many People are doing simply that although. US site visitors to Knight Frank’s UK property web site in November final 12 months was 5 occasions larger than the identical month the earlier 12 months. It peaked on November 5, the day of the election, when site visitors was 20 per cent larger than on every other single day in 2024.

In line with the Workplace for Nationwide Statistics, there are at the moment about 71,000 People residing in London, out of a complete inhabitants of 8.8 million, and that quantity appears prone to enhance.

Ellie Coverdale and her husband Michael reside in Seattle and are planning a transfer to London within the spring.

“Trump’s presidency solely made me extra cautious of the place the US goes and whether or not it’s my approach or not,” says Coverdale, 42. “Political language feels so divided and radical that it’s more and more tough to think about a future there.”

She cites Trump’s place on local weather change and environmental regulation as an element fuelling her determination to maneuver.

“I questioned what the US had in thoughts in the long term, and whether or not the US management mirrored my very own rules of sustainability and duty to the remainder of the world,” she says. “The immigration insurance policies additionally typically felt divisive and exclusionary.”

In addition to London’s historical past, museums, theatres and markets, a part of town’s attraction is its multi-culturalism. “London seems like a spot the place folks from all walks of life come collectively and create an atmosphere that’s each dynamic and galvanizing,” she says.

Coverdale is an leisure author at UKWritings.com and most of her work is completed remotely, whereas her husband, who’s 46, works in finance, with a specialism in danger administration. “He’s just lately discovered a brand new workplace job in London, and it’s made life a lot simpler for us,” she says.

The couple are within the technique of organising visas and have been properties in Richmond, Hampstead and Greenwich. “The UK’s extra liberal political local weather is a part of the enchantment — it’s extra in keeping with our core beliefs and values, it guarantees the soundness and openness that we’re in search of once we do that transfer.”

Amongst these benefiting from a so-called “Donald Sprint” are London’s shopping for brokers. Within the US system, each purchaser and vendor have interaction an agent or dealer. So, in contrast to right here, most People don’t act independently when shopping for a property.

“Demand from US consumers has been constructing steadily throughout the previous 12 to 24 months however it’s positively accelerated for the reason that US election,” says Jo Eccles, founding father of prime central London shopping for company, Eccord.

“People now account for 30 per cent of our purchasers, the very best it’s ever been. From enquiries in the previous couple of weeks, it’s clear their market share will develop additional in 2025.

“Social and political challenges throughout the US, significantly gun crime and the beginning of a second Trump presidency, are encouraging many to speed up their plans to relocate right here completely.”

Whereas Labour’s modifications to non-dom guidelines have dissuaded many worldwide consumers from settling in London, the US imposes worldwide taxation on all its residents, regardless of the place they reside.

“Whereas different nationalities are exiting the UK or pondering twice about shopping for right here, American consumers are shifting towards the tide,” provides Eccles.

The falling pound, which is at its lowest stage towards the greenback since 2023, has additionally meant People can get extra for his or her cash after they purchase a property.

Ranjit Thaker, founding father of London shopping for company Thaker Acquisitions, says London has many benefits for these shifting from the US: “Except for geography taking part in a key function as a gateway to Europe, the widespread language and business-friendly time zone have big enchantment to American consumers.”

He’s additionally seeing the impact amongst his purchasers. “Earlier than the election we had one shopper specific that their price range could enhance following a Trump win… Given the US leads the billionaire inhabitants index, I’d argue that this checklist will solely develop underneath Trump’s administration and subsequently see no signal of abatement from US funding into London in years to come back.”

By way of their very own future, Lytwyn and Walker-Murray plan to remain within the UK for the medium time period. “I feel we are going to return to the US in some unspecified time in the future,” Lytwyn says.

“We now have a five-year visa and ageing mother and father. I bear in mind asking Daniel: ‘What occurs if Trump will get in?’ And he stated, ‘We must always transfer again and assist.’ However we didn’t. It hit us that we love our life right here. We’d should sacrifice to reside in one other Trump administration.”