Thoughts from our Property Experts

The general perception about the prime central London property market in the summer is that it is quiet.  

Whilst there is no doubt that when UK schools break up for the 6 weeks summer holidays many of us will go away for a well-earned break however, very few are fortunate enough to be able to take the whole 6 weeks away!  London in the summer is a particularly wonderful place and always attracts huge numbers of visitors from overseas for both recreational and commercial purposes.  A recent study in Forbes by Euromonitor International ranked London in the top ten of the top 100 destinations globally. 

 

We are currently receiving many property purchase enquiries from international buyers at the moment.  The international enquiries are evenly split between the U.S, Hong Kong and Middle East buyers.  For buyers from Hong Kong, the HKD to GBP exchange rate is almost the same as it was this time last year (10.01 then and 10.03 now to the pound), although there have been fluctuations during this time.  Historically, buyers from Asia have always been drawn to property in new development schemes, however we have experienced first-hand that this attitude appears to be changing.  Period properties in good locations with good local amenities are being sought after.

 

The United Kingdom is still very much seen as a safe haven.  Our Rule of Law, political stability, education, history and a sense of general safety are high among the reasons why people want to buy and or reside in London.  Second home Stamp Duty when it was introduced did little to deter would be buyers.  However, a word of caution, the changes to the taxation of non-domiciled individuals along with potentially further property taxes could see international buyers think a little more carefully about making a property purchase.