ESTATE agents have questioned figures which claim there has been an exodus from the IG postcode area.

Figures from reallymoving.com show home moving trends in the UK and the statistics indicate the IG postcode area has been unpopular over the past three months.

But estate agents in Woodford Green have said the figures may relate to Ilford and the south of the borough as they have seen no decline in the popularity of the Woodford Green and Woodford Bridge areas.

James Lawlor, of Lawlors Property Services, said he has 35 years of experience in the area and it is still as sought-after as it has ever been.

He said: "We have three offices in the IG area and we are having a really busy year.

"There are lot of people now moving and they want to move into the area, not out of it.

"It is cobblers to suggest the IG area is unpopular as you are on the Central Line in most of the area, secondly the area cannot be over-developed because of the Epping Forest lung - there's a huge area which can't be touched and with the Olympics coming to the area I can see more and more people wanting to be within 15 to 20 minutes of Stratford."

Eleanor Riordan, sales negotiator at Unique Property Services in Chigwell Road, said: "It's slightly different here. We find a lot of people move here because there are good schools.

"Ilford, for example, is IG and people might think there is more crime there.

"There are a huge amount of people looking to buy in this area because they are near to London and on the Central Line but not right in the middle of the city.

"People only tend to move away if they are downsizing, retiring or relocating because of their job."

Jamie Battu, sales negotiator at Churchill Estates in South Woodford, said: "We cover Woodford Green and most of the moves we've had are people staying, not too many people are moving away.

"The figures could mean that there are a lot of people moving away from Ilford, we get a lot of people moving from there to here."

Adrian Sinclair, manager of Spencers in High Road, Woodford Green, said: "In relation to Woodford Green, Woodford Bridge, Buckhurst Hill and Loughton, within the IG area, we can't find enough property.

"There are certainly more people coming than there are going, the demand is the problem it's astronomical.

"In the parts of the IG postcode we deal with from my office,people move here for the schools, it's accessible, the feel of the area and there are nice restaurants dotted around."

Figures from reallymoving.com for April to June show Turo in Cornwall as the most popular place in the UK to live with 184 per cent of moves in the past three months being to the area or within the area.

On the flip side reallymoving.com data indicates that there were more moves out of the IG postcode area than to the area in the past three months.

Rosemary Rogers, director of reallymoving.com said: “The data for the second quarter of the year shows a continuation of last quarter’s trend with London postcodes remaining unpopular with home movers.

“Postcode zones within Greater London take up nine places in the top ten of the least popular areas for home movers.

“The fact that these areas are failing to retain residents is a measure of the non-stop pace of the UK’s biggest city. The low proportion of local moves is indicative of the capital’s flexible and dynamic workforce, who are prepared to break the bond with a local community in search of better job prospects.”