London Still The Gold Standard For Inward Property Investment

Brexit and Covid-19 have inevitably brought disruption to the UK’s economy and property market, but wealthy Chinese individuals and investors remain cautiously confident and optimistic about long- term investment opportunities in Britain, according to research by 11k Consulting and The Luxury Property Forum.

The team quizzed 13 prime residential insiders, including buying and selling agents, luxury developers, designers and private client advisors, to build a picture of what China’s high net worth set is thinking about the UK property scene – and what investors are planning to do here in the coming years.

“No economy in the world is as open to Chinese investment as the UK,” said British politician George Osborne in 2015. Since then, Chinese (including Hong Kong) investment into the UK property market has increased steadily every year. Recent figures show that, despite the global pandemic, Chinese investment in luxury prime central London residential property has soared, accounting for 15% of international buyer home sales above £1 million across prime central London and 20% of deals above £10 million.

In 2019, the Office for National Statistics data showed that Hong Kong and mainland Chinese buyers invested £7.69 billion in London property including over £750 million invested in residential property in the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.

According to the Hurun Chinese Luxury Consumer Survey 2020, Chinese high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) are currently putting 12.5% of their wealth into overseas assets, with London ranked as the most popular investment destination.