Continued interest in the London property market from foreign investment

Morgan Pryce has previously noted that foreign investment in offices in the City and West End has been increasing over the years, and is now at its highest, with almost all foreign investment in the UK realty equaling to approximately two thirds of the total.

Asian buyers head the lead in foreign investment, but middle-eastern investors are also main players in investing into the property market – the Saudi investment in the tallest building in the City, the Pinnacle also known as the ‘Helter Skelter’ being a prime example.

The mayor of London supports investment from the UAE and Boris Johnson has promised that we can expect more investment to be on the way from UAE. This is supported by Hamptons International preparing for their roadshow in Dubai next week, while Harrods Estates had already put up a high end and popular event in December – we are expecting a lot more property companies to be going out there as well. Johnson was in the UAE recently and now plans to travel to Kuwait, to encourage even more investment from the region into London. Johnson recently revealed there has been interest to link the DP World’s port to a new airport.

There had been some concerns that the UK budget that was revealed in March may have put off foreign investment, but in fact it was very supportive of the housing market and this will allow the continued international demand that has been improving each year since 2009. Hamptons head of Central London sales, Andrew Phillips advised that they are confident that there will be an increase from buyers from particular countries keen to capitalise in London while the pound is weakening.

Morgan Pryce is a specialist tenant acquisition agent with offices in Oxford Circus and the City. Morgan Pryce specialises in search, negotiation and project management and works exclusively for tenants.