The COVID-19 crisis sparked an exodus from cities as urban dwellers, tired of the expense and pressures of city life, fled to the more comfortable and healthier lifestyles of the suburbs, satellite towns or rural idylls.

All of a sudden, everyone wanted large homes with gardens big enough for the puppy bought in lockdown and an organic vegetable plot, on quiet and safe streets with good schools nearby. Apartment or multifamily living was out. Balconies were no longer sufficient, outdoor space was in, and cities themselves faced decline.

Or so the story went. Except, it was never really true. While there was certainly an uptick in demand for larger homes away from cities centres — a narrative eagerly inflated by estate agents keen to stoke demand for bigger homes — subsequent data shows this was a temporary blip, rather than a trend.

Indeed, in the United Kingdom, where talk about city exoduses was particularly noisy, especially around London, data shows that