{"id":6032838,"date":"2020-09-07T12:14:58","date_gmt":"2020-09-07T11:14:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.buyassociation.co.uk\/?p=6032838"},"modified":"2020-09-07T12:14:58","modified_gmt":"2020-09-07T11:14:58","slug":"latest-on-london-property-market-house-prices-and-investment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-au\/2020\/09\/07\/latest-on-london-property-market-house-prices-and-investment\/","title":{"rendered":"The latest on the London property market: house prices and investment"},"content":{"rendered":"

The London property market remains a hugely popular place to invest, particularly among international buyers. It has ridden the storm of the past few months, and the city continues to be a key investment location.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The UK’s capital has long since been known as a “safe haven<\/a>” when it comes to property investment. The city’s strong economy, thriving business outlook and prospering jobs market are among the reasons people choose to buy, live and work there.<\/p>\n

Over the past six months<\/a>, the London property market has continued to attract investment. It is especially well-trodden among buyers from overseas as a key “go-to” location in the UK. According to recent reports, investors from Hong Kong<\/a> in particular are currently more keen than ever to buy there.<\/p>\n

One report from Bloomberg points out that several high-end estate agencies have seen a spike in enquiries. Chestertons has experienced an 80% increase in new client registrations from Hong Kong so far this year. Meanwhile, Black Brick Property Solutions and Beauchamp Estates have around 20% more clients on their books.<\/p>\n

According to Camilla Dell of Black Brick, more Hong Kongers are now also looking to invest in homes where they can “permanently relocate to the UK”.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be potential for more buyers as a result of BNO holders<\/a> being told they\u2019re welcome with open arms,” she adds.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

House prices: too early to tell?<\/h4>\n

The London property market has soared over recent decades. Despite a slight plateau caused in part by some political uncertainty and Brexit<\/a>, the sector has remained strong. Pre-lockdown, a property in the capital cost an average of \u00a3601,562, according to HM Land Registry data from March 2020. This ranged from the average cost of a flat sitting at \u00a3429,401, up to an average detached house coming in at \u00a3889, 308.<\/p>\n

Since March, a lack of transaction data has made it difficult to accurately sum up house price changes. However, activity<\/a> began to pick back up significantly back in June. And Rishi Sunak’s announcement of a stamp duty holiday<\/a> for properties up to \u00a3500,000 has cemented this bounceback. Many experts expect this will buoy up house prices for the time being.<\/p>\n

The latest data available from HM Land Registry shows figures from May 2020. This showed that average property prices in the UK increased by 2.9% from May 2019, up to \u00a3251,973. The London property market saw an even bigger rise of 3.3% in the year to May 2020. This upward trajectory shows a promising start for the capital, although the short-term outlook<\/a> is uncertain.<\/p>\n

Tax changes affecting London buyers<\/h4>\n

In the capital, while many homes are priced above the new half a million threshold, the tax cut still means huge savings<\/a> for buyers and investors. This is spurring on a wave of transactions<\/a> as people try to secure deals before stamp duty reverts to previous levels next March.<\/p>\n

For foreign buyers, there is a further incentive to act quickly<\/a>. As of March next year, those living overseas who wish to invest in UK property will need to pay an additional 2% stamp duty surcharge. Since this announcement, the London property market had already seen an influx of enquiries from abroad.<\/p>\n

What’s happening with rents?<\/h4>\n

The London rental sector<\/a> is another highlight for property investors in the capital. As a city filled with young professionals, it has one of the strongest rental industries in the country. While it may not be the most high-yielding<\/a> area, it is a location where investors and buy-to-let landlords should always see extremely high demand from tenants, meaning minimal void periods and a consistent rental income.<\/p>\n

The latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that the average pre-lockdown rent in London in March was \u00a31,425 per month. This is more than double England’s \u00a3700 per month average.<\/p>\n

Between July 2019 and July 2020, average private rents increased by 1.1%, says the ONS. While this is slightly lower than the 1.6% average across England, the level of growth still indicates a strong market for rental income<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Get in touch<\/a> to find out about BuyAssociation’s property investment opportunities in London. You can also sign up for free<\/a> to get early access to our best deals.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The London property market remains a hugely popular place to invest, particularly among international buyers. It has ridden the storm of the past few months, and the city continues to be a key investment location. The UK’s capital has long since been known as a “safe haven” when it comes to property investment. The city’s… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1069,"featured_media":5026272,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[33,110,11],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6032838"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1069"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6032838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6032838\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5026272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6032838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6032838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.buyassociationgroup.com\/en-au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6032838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}