Half of homes more expensive than £1 million (€1.18 million) in the center of London was bought by foreigners. Such information is contained in a fresh report by Knight Frank, reports ee24.com referring to telegraph.co.uk. These figures spur debate about the affordability of housing in the British capital and cash flow flocking to London from all over the world and violate the natural state of affairs in the British real estate market.
Central London includes prestigious areas around Hyde Park, such as Kensington, Mayfair and Knightsbridge, which are always popular with foreign investors. In a study of Knight Frank it is said that 49% of home buyers in these areas are the representatives of non-indigenous nationalities, with 72% of them have a residence permit in the UK.
These are mainly Europeans and people from the Middle East, as well as a large number of Russians and citizens of CIS countries. Among the Europeans stand out the French and Italians, who fled en masse to London in early 2012 amid fears for the fate of the European currency.
In the primary market, the percentage of foreign buyers has increased to 69%. That's because there are few primary estate in London. Liam Bailey, of Knight Frank noted that higher demand for primary housing by foreigners is created by the attraction of similar properties in terms of amenities and small maintenance costs.
The expert noted that this trend is only for Central London. Outside the elite areas the majority of buyers are the British. For example, 93% of primary homes buyers in Greater London are indigenous nationalities.