London property market after Brexit: EU nationals buying homes in capital attracted by weak pound
London’s property market is now reliant on overseas buyers, many keen to take advantage of the weak pound — although these days they are less likely to be Russian oligarchs in search of a trophy mansion or buy-to-let investors snapping up an apartment block, and more likely to be EU nationals still enthusiastic about a British base despite Brexit.
It seems foreign buyers are no longer as interested in buy-to-let property, after a harsher tax regime was introduced for such investors.
However, just over one in three homes across London are now bought by foreign nationals, while around one in eight properties goes to buyers from Europe, up three per cent in the past year, according to latest research from Hamptons International.
David Lee, head of sales at Pastor Real Estate, agrees that Europeans are continuing to invest in London.
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“Many of these buyers have acquired one- and two-bedroom flats for use as pieds-à-terre,” he says. “Larger families have acquired three- or four-bedroom houses as a family base. Some have decided to buy houses their children can use while at uni.”
Middle Eastern and Chinese buyers are also active. In Wapping, Lee O’Neill, partner at Knight Frank, says Chinese buyers want new-build homes, “notably buying for their student children”.
Buying agent Caroline Takla, founder of The Collection, adds that Brexit has done nothing to tarnish London’s reputation among Middle Eastern buyers, who still see it as a safe haven amid political uncertainty and economic slowdown in their own region.
Guy Meacock, director of buying agency Prime Purchase, has noticed more transatlantic buyers.
“The Americans had deserted London to an extent for a number of years but there are compelling reasons for their return, not least the political situation at home with Donald Trump and the pound at almost parity with the dollar.
"The added attraction is that much of London’s property is about 20 per cent cheaper than it was.”
