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International Women’s Day 2023: Wisdom & career advice from inspirational real estate leaders

By PrimeResi Editor

Marking International Women’s Day, a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women, PrimeResi speaks to female leaders from across the resi industry – including design, agency, marketing and development – to discuss their careers to date, proudest moments, and where they find inspiration…

‘I feel that being a woman in property is a super-power’

As we mark International Women’s Day 2023, PrimeResi asks leaders from across the property sector to share their inspirational career stories, and favourite words of wisdom…

 

Liza-Jane Kelly, Head of London Residential at Savills

My property career wouldn’t be what it is today without embracing the day-to-day challenges the job brings. Every day is different and all the more rewarding for the variety. A positive mindset will enable you to recognise the inevitable mistakes as an opportunity to learn, essential to successfully navigating your professional journey. Having an optimistic outlook will also lift and encourage your team.

You become more accomplished and capable through your capacity to learn. Whatever stage you are at in your career, there is an opportunity to learn from your colleagues, others around you and life’s rich tapestry of experiences. It can require courage to step outside your comfort zone but often it is in making that step you learn the most, grow your confidence and find the greatest rewards.

Having a mentor to bounce ideas off is a great way to grow professionally. I have found mentoring others equally rewarding. While I believe it’s important to give back, I have received huge benefit form mentoring within my industry and beyond, which often provides a trove of fresh ideas.

It’s important to have empathy as a leader and to spend time listening to your teams. I regularly visit our offices across London which provides valuable local insights and a proper understanding of the challenges they face.

Be really organised and create structure. If you are organised and plan ahead both at home and at work, it enables you to be really focused and prioritise important tasks.

No matter how busy you are at work, it’s important to take time for yourself and do things that energise and inspire you. Despite the obvious hurdles I exercise in the morning before work as it clears my head and sets me up for the day – I think the expression in business is “eat the frog”!

 

Priya Rawal, Founder and CEO at The Luxury Property Forum and Co-host of The Real Rendezvous Podcast

There are two pieces of advice I received early on which I have lived by throughout my career.

The first is build your own personal brand. This is not as easy as it sounds and takes you to ask yourself tough questions: what you want out of your career? how you view yourself? how you would like the industry to view you? What do you stand for? what would you like to be remembered for? However, once you have asked yourself these questions and come to the answers you will know which makes your unique and what value you can bring to your clients, your boardroom, and your industry. It will give you a foundation to build upon and develop over time. This will not only build confidence, allow you to have gravitas and make an impact. Further it will keep you grounded and positive when times are tough because they inevitably will be.

The second is surround yourself with people who will make you stronger. A supportive network is essential to being successful in any sector (especially in luxury property). Building relationships with those who you admire and are aligned with values, are key to guiding you down the right path. I have been so lucky that many of these people (both men and women) have become mentors, who I have been able to turn to in times of difficulty and to whom I am forever grateful.

 

Linda Morey-Burrows, Founder and Principal Director of interior design and architecture firms MoreySmith and StudioMorey

Never underestimate just how important and effective your network is. As we celebrate our 30th anniversary at MoreySmith, many of our projects completing this year are with long standing clients that we first worked with in the early 1990s. Building strong relationships is fundamental to the success of any property business and I particularly have enjoyed collaborating with and mentoring other women in the industry over the years.

There is a real sense of community in the sector and developing a robust network of women colleagues means you can lean on each other when needed, which is especially useful when growing a company. As the industry is still at times very male-dominated, it really helps to have a black book of supportive contemporaries you can rely on.

My biggest piece of advice for anyone joining the industry is to look for a position or career path you will absolutely love doing and don’t feel limited by your gender when choosing a vocation. The sector encompasses so many different career pursuits and there are lots of exciting opportunities for everyone, so don’t listen to those stuck in the past who tell you what you can and cannot do!

Particularly in architecture and design, the industry is starting to make significant strides towards a gender balanced representation after years of feeling like a boys club. Having passionate women architects and designers in the room is essential to any project and something I am proud to champion at MoreySmith. We can only create incredible spaces that work for everyone if a diverse team is involved throughout the design and building process.

 

Camilla Dell, Managing Director of buying agency Black Brick Property Solutions

I’ve never felt that being a woman meant I couldn’t do or achieve anything I wanted to. Maybe I was/am naïve but I simply refused to believe I was at a disadvantage because of my sex. I think mindset is key and believing in yourself no matter what. I absolutely recognise that women are severely underrepresented in the property industry, but that is starting to change. And it’s not just property – the world of finance, private equity, hedge funds even charities are too white and too male.

One of the reasons I left my previous firm over 16 years ago was that there was only one female proprietary partner in the entire business – it set the wrong tone, but thankfully things are changing and moving in the right direction now.

I also feel that being a woman in property is a “super-power”. As a buying agent I feel I have the edge and the ability to empathise with my clients much more. With many of our clients, its often the female partner in the relationship that ultimately makes the decision. As a female property advisor, I stand out. All those things are good and I would encourage any woman thinking about a career in this industry to go for it. The property world needs you. Look to work for firms that have a diverse leadership team.

 

Jane Cronwright-Brown, Head of UK Lettings at Savills

When I moved to London aged 16 to attend the Royal Ballet School, I never imagined it would lead me to the board room and a successful property career at one of the UK’s leading estate agents.

The skills I acquired throughout my dance training, discipline, resilience, high standards, creativity, strong communication, competitiveness, an eye for detail, preparation, determination, drive, practise, perfection and continuous improvement, have continued to shape my progress and guide me through my lettings career.

After five years in the ballet studio, I was driving around Notting Hill in my mini metro as a trainee lettings negotiator! I’ve now been in the lettings industry for over 30 years and since joining Savills in 2005 I’ve grown the team to 450 strong covering over 70 locations from Tunbridge Wells to Edinburgh. It’s important to embrace opportunities and during my time at Savills I have sat on many boards and working groups. I’m currently a member of the Savills UK Board, Chair of the Lettings Executive Board, UK sponsor for The D&I Age Group, D&I ally and Chair of Savills Innovation Group. I’m proud to have a dynamic and diverse team which has enormous benefits for the business.

I enjoy all aspects of my job, but especially being a leader, working hard to inspire my team and consistently strive to develop my team to be the best that they can be. As a working mum I understand first-hand the importance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance and the challenges that many of my team face in today’s fast-paced world.

It’s important to set goals and to be ambitious, but at the same time authentic and true to yourself and your core values. I’m focused on leading the business to further growth whilst giving the best customer experience. Embrace each day with the mindset: Today is another day, and what I can do better than yesterday?

 

Jo Eccles, Founder and Managing Director of prime London buying agency Eccord

The property industry is extremely people-focused. Relationships and reputation are crucial, and I would advise anyone starting out and planning a long-term property career to earn their stripes by being clear about their values, remaining humble and going above and beyond – not just at the beginning, but throughout their career. The London property industry is a small world and people will remember you if you work hard and treat them politely, fairly and with integrity. The trust placed in us by our clients and the many professionals who recommend us, is not something we ever take for granted.

Since I set up Eccord in 2006, I’ve been inspired watching so many women build successful companies and rise to leadership positions across the property sector. I think the secret to success is very simple: love what you do. I have had the privilege of working with some very impressive people and viewing thousands of truly incredible homes during my career, but I never tire of it. If you live and breathe property, your passion and authenticity will shine through.

 

Phillippa Dalby-Welsh, Head of Savills Country Department

I think one of the key things I have learnt in business, is to never underestimate the importance of a network of mentors. I’ve always been lucky to benefit from the support of a number of people within the wider business structure, whom I got to know for no other reason than they were nice, engaging people who took an interest in my career. This group of unofficial mentors actually ended up becoming my friends and my confidants, who were always there for advice and support. Take an interest in other people’s journeys and experience and they will take an interest in yours.

Another piece of advice would be to volunteer for things above and beyond your role. Putting your hand up might not necessarily lead to career gains or financial reward, but the knowledge obtained from being involved in things outside of your day job and the people you get to interact with, really can help broaden your experience and enhance your career. One of the things I really dreaded was presenting, but I kept on putting my hand up, built my confidence and gained visibility in the business and exposure to people and opportunities I wouldn’t otherwise have done.

I think that many people don’t necessarily believe that they can do a job until they’re actually already doing 90% of the things that something requires and as a result don’t put themselves forward enough for things when actually their capabilities are already there.  For these people – and I was one of them – I’d say, don’t be afraid to put your head above the parapet, you might not know how to do everything from day one but a good business will recognise potential and offer appropriate support to help you develop that skill set.

There is also something to be said for humility over the challenges of balancing work and family. In my opinion, it’s important for women in positions of responsibility to champion the need for boundaries between work and motherhood, but equally not to pretend that ‘balance’ is something that is achieved and maintained, it ebbs and flows with the demands of work and life and there are of course sacrifices along the way on both sides but equally reward. There is no one size fits all – it requires weekly if not daily review.

 

Mel Constantinou, Regional Partner at Knight Frank

You need to believe in yourself, your ability and what you have to offer, don’t take obstacles personally and move on positively and collaborate to overcome them.

Learn as much as you can from those around you, be coachable and be open to constructive criticism.

Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there especially if it takes you out of your comfort zone because when you’re uncomfortable that’s when incredible things happen!

 

London Mansion Buyers Are Demanding More Than Just a Fancy Address

Britain’s clampdown on energy-wasting homes is prompting the rich to make green demands

By Damian Shepherd.

A trophy address alone doesn’t do it anymore for buyers of London’s mansions.

Along the tree-lined Avenue Road — a stone’s throw from Regent’s Park — with mansions priced at as much as £110 million ($134 million), there’s a burning question on the lips of prospective purchasers: How green are these homes?

“The wealthy want to be seen to do their bit, whether they believe in it or not,” said Jon O’Brien, founder of Domvs London, the developer of 52 Avenue Road, a project that’s set to transform the street’s biggest plot of land into 12 “eco-mansions” guarded by uniformed ex-Gurkha troops.

The developer claims the mansions’ thick walls will trap warmth in the winter, while elliptical staircases spanning the length of the building will remove summer heat through the roof. It plans geothermal heat pumps to warm the mansions’ sauna, steam room and fitness suite that’s being designed by a superyacht gym provider.

The special features at the mansions, which will be on average about 5,750 square feet in size with prices starting at £3,500 per square foot, are aimed at meeting the green demands of the rich.

“I appreciated not only their stunning architecture and layout but the significant ‘eco green’ design,” said Jeff, a 40-something native of New York, who has signed up for one of the mansions in the complex, but didn’t want to provide his last name for privacy reasons. The corporate finance executive with interests across the US and Europe had wanted a place for his family as he looks to expand from a base in London.  The “environmental benefits really set the scheme above and beyond other London new-build properties we were viewing in the local area,” he said.

This newfound desire to be more green comes as the large carbon footprint of the wealthy comes increasingly into focus. The world’s richest 1%— the more than 60 million people earning $109,000 a year — are by far the fastest-growing source of emissions, according to the World Inequality Lab,  driven by their diets, the way they live, travel and the cars and homes they own.

Also, governments are increasingly demanding more energy-efficient living. In the UK, tackling the energy inefficiency of real estate is seen as a crucial step in the nation weaning itself off fossil fuels. Almost half of Britain’s energy consumption is for heating, and refurbishing its drafty housing stock is seen as key to reduce demand and propel the nation toward meeting its climate goals.

The UK government wants all homes upgraded to an energy performance rating of C or higher on a scale of A to G by 2035. Landlords have even less time to upgrade their properties, with the latest government proposal requiring homes starting tenancies after April 2025 to have a minimum C rating — about 2.45 million properties currently fail to meet that criteria.

“It’s just like buying a car,” Domvs’s O’Brien added. “You’d be hesitant to buy one now that isn’t electric because you know that by 2030 it will only be electric cars allowed.”

Many of the homes built in Britain are made of brick and date back to the Victorian era. They lose heat three times as fast as those in European neighbors. Well-insulated dwellings use less gas and take better advantage of electricity-powered systems such as heat pumps.

Homeowners can improve their energy score by modernizing boilers or adding insulation, double-glazed windows and solar panels. But with upgrade costs averaging about £8,000, according to the English Housing Survey, landlords currently face renovation bills north of £19 billion.

For those renovating large, luxury homes, the fees are likely to be even steeper.

“There is some financial motivation to get these improvements underway, as there are quite stiff penalties,” said Jackie Bowie, head of Europe at risk consultant Chatham Financial. “There will be further tightening of requirements to come.”

Camilla Dell, managing partner at buying agent Black Brick Property Solutions, recently negotiated a deal on a block of seven investment apartments in London’s South Kensington district with energy efficiency ratings of D or lower. Black Brick was quoted £200,000 to upgrade the properties to a C rating, which the agent subsequently negotiated off the purchase price.

“So much of London’s property doesn’t meet the C rating,” Dell said. “Most listed buildings and Victorian buildings don’t, but they are some of the capital’s most sought-after prime real estate.”

On Avenue Road, potential buyers are already circling the plot of eco-mansions expected to be completed in June 2025. More than 120 expressions of interest were submitted in January, according to Domvs’s O’Brien, including a number of dollar-rich buyers from the US and Middle East looking to cash-in on the currency’s strength against the pound.

Wealthy, less debt-reliant buyers have helped London’s most expensive homes defy a slowdown in Britain’s housing market, which is facing disruption as it adapts to higher borrowing costs. New sales instructions for homes priced at £5 million or more were 74% higher in the final quarter of 2022 compared with the pre-Covid average, according to data compiled earlier this year by researcher LonRes.

 

The level of interest for the new Avenue Road mansions, set to be rated A and carrying an anticipated price of at least £20 million, is “demand that I’ve never seen before,” said O’Brien, and reflects the evolving priorities of buyers as fresh climate regulation looms.

“Buyers often raise eyebrows at the premiums being paid for new build property,” Black Brick’s Dell said. “But I can see this premium going even higher in the future as it’s the new builds that have the highest energy-efficiency ratings.”

Who are the new super-rich buying in London? Tatler reveals the five ultra-prime property tribes

Forget Londongrad, England’s capital has become a honeypot for tech gazillionaires from Silicon Valley – but who else is buying up the capital?

By Annabel Sampson

The Russians are out; European buyers have gone. So, who are the new super-rich buying in post-Brexit London? After the exodus of the oligarchs from the capital’s most desirable quarters – from the Boltons in Chelsea to Belgrave Square – you might have thought the odd multi-million pound trophy pad might sit derelict for a while. Not a chance – with a weak-ish pound, there’s a new set of super-rich making waves in London’s prime property scene. And it might not be who you expect: they come in sneakers, caps and sloganed tees. They can code, are fluent in AI and have a preference for Bulletproof Coffee. Yes, you guessed it: it’s the Silicon Valley billionaire brigade.

Bolstered by a strong dollar and keen for a close-to-Europe base, they’re arriving in droves. In super-prime London, according to research by estate agency Hamptons, American buyers in the most exclusive areas have increased from 2 to 7 per cent. Beauchamp estates, who dabble in the sale of the most luxurious properties, estimate that half the homes above £15 million went to American buyers last year (worth £620 million in total). But what about the others? Tatler introduces you to the new super-rich buying in London.

 

Silicon Valley Whizzkids

‘Intimate’ breakfasts at London institutions such as The Wolseley and The Colbert are being hosted by the likes of Sloane Street’s Tedworth Property in an attempt to woo tech-gazillionaires fresh from a long haul-flight. They’ve landed in London with a view to suss out the super-prime property market. ‘These are unlike the American buyers of years gone by,’ Rupert des Forges, head of prime central London developments at Knight Frank, told the Times. ‘The fortunes being made at such a young age is remarkable.’ While they’re notoriously private, it’s known that J Russell DeLeon, an online gambling billionaire, bought a four-storey, seven bedroom house near Notting Hill last year. In addition, we’ve got Meta execs settling in London (the likes of former deputy PM and now one of the highest ranking Meta executives Nick Clegg and Instagram boss Adam Mosseri, for starters). Like homing pigeons, at No 1 Grosvenor Square – the former US embassy – 10 of the 30 families who bought there were reportedly US tech leaders, often spending £30 million on the property in question.

 

The pharma dudes

Super jet-set and super far-flung: the ultimate example of this kind is Ernesto Bertarelli, the Swiss biotech magnate, who bought up an 80-room mansion in Belgravia in June last year. Ker-ching.

BIG PHARMA: KIRSTY AND ERNESTO BERTARELLI (NOW DIVORCED) AND EVA HERZIGOVA AT THE THEATRE DU CHATALET

 

Oil and gas tycoons

Oil is up, the pound is down – and the London property market is a solid investment. Camilla Dell, managing partner at Black Brick, told the Times, that she has a few Nigerian clients and inquiries from Africa and the Middle East were on the rise. They’re reportedly buoyed by profits from the booming oil and gas markets and the strength of the dollar against the pound. So where better to buy?

 

Global super-rich

The wealthiest Indians – the Poonwallahs, the Ambanis – have long looked to London (and the UK) for its prime real estate. Lebanon’s billionaire Hariri family – of whom Rafic Hariri and his son Saad Hariri have both served as prime ministers of the country – last year sold their £19.75 million Cadogan Gardens mansion to another Lebanese tycoon. (It’s understood they are looking for an even larger London base in place.) And a Chinese property tycoon, Cheung Chung-kiu (whose property group CC Land also owns the £1.15 billion Cheesegrater skyscraper in the city), bought a 45-room mansion for between £205 and £210 million in 2020 – making it, at that point, the most expensive home ever sold in the UK.

 

The hedgeys

When did the super-rich finance guys ever not buy up in super-prime London? Right now, they’re coming from all across the world as well as from home. Sir David Harding, a British businessman who made millions through his investment management company, the Winton Group, bought a seven bedroom house near Holland Park in July last year.

SUPER-PRIME AT ITS PEAK: BELGRAVE SQUARE IN CENTRAL LONDON

Luxury Mayfair Homes Are Selling at the Fastest Rate Since 2020

  • Home deals worth over £5 million rising in Mayfair: LonRes

  • Wider UK housing market is in the middle of a slowdown

By Damian Shepherd

Wealthy homebuyers are snapping up Mayfair properties at the fastest rate in over two years, as London’s priciest homes defy a slowdown in the city’s housing market.

Fifteen homes priced at £5 million ($6 million) or more sold in Mayfair and St James’s in December and January, according to data compiled by researcher LonRes. Only one other month — December 2020 — has seen more than five deals north of £5 million in the past five years.

“Mayfair is the go-to safe haven place for wealthy buyers looking to park money on London property,” said Camilla Dell, managing partner at buying agent Black Brick Property Solutions. “There is an acute lack of supply and constant demand, supporting prices.”

 

Mayfair Home Sales

Deals worth £5 million or more in London’s Mayfair, St James’s districts

Source: LonRes

 

Mayfair and St James’s saw the same number of £5 million-plus sales as Knightsbridge, South Kensington and Hampstead combined in the same two-month period, the data show. The district is home to some of London’s most well-heeled tenants, including luxury retailers, art galleries and hedge funds.

Black Brick’s Dell says a sixth of her clients are actively looking to buy in Mayfair, with preferences ranging from £5 million flats to £15 million family apartments. Prospective buyers include Americans looking to purchase holiday homes in the district rather than regularly booking hotels for thousands of pounds a night, Dell added.

“Many of our clients visit in peak times — summer and Christmas — and spend up to 90 nights visiting London,” she said. “Even with service charges, you would still be saving money, plus you get the benefit of owning an asset that over time will appreciate in value.”

Luxury sales are outperforming the wider London housing market, partly because wealthy buyers are largely shielded from higher mortgage rates due to less reliance on debt when purchasing a home. At the same time, the weakness in the pound against the dollar is tempting more international buyers to the city’s luxury properties.

 

Luxury London Home Deals

Number of sales worth £5 million or more in December and January

 

Jo Eccles, managing director at buying agent Eccord, says demand for top-end London homes has continued into 2023. One of Eccord’s clients — a British family office — sold a Mayfair home in their rental portfolio for about £50 million in December, paving the way for a flurry of high value transactions over the winter months.

Luxury London Homes

New home instructions were higher than their pre-pandemic average

Source: LonRes

New sales instructions for homes priced at £5 million or more were 74% higher in the final quarter of last year compared with the pre-Covid average, according to a separate LonRes report published last month.

“Buyers across the prime and super prime market are showing they aren’t afraid to commit,” Eccord’s Eccles said. “We expect demand to continue for genuine trophy homes as London’s appeal remains with buyers.”

 

Enquiries are up 60% this year, reports PCL buying agency

Black Brick notes some ‘green shoots of hope’ across the prime postcodes.

Few were predicting a bouncy start for the housing market in 2023, but agents are making increasingly encouraging noises about activity levels across the prime postcodes.

Knight Frank’s central London offices recently reported an exceptionally high volume of offers being received for the time of year; buyer registrations have also been tracking above pre-pandemic levels.

PCL buying agency Black Brick has now told of a 60% jump in new client enquiries in January, compared with the same month in 2022.

‘There are definitely green shoots of hope’, says Black Brick’s Camilla Dell

The firm, which acquired more than £100mn of property on behalf of its clients last year, said the surge “suggests a potentially busy year ahead”.

High numbers of enquiries have been coming in from across the UK and the Middle East, although buyers from the USA, Bermuda, and Oman are also active. There has also been a “new wave of interest” from China, now that Beijing has opened its borders.

The latest batch of search briefs range from two-bed pieds-à-terre at £2mn, all the way up to £50mn family homes.

It seems one area of PCL is proving especially popular: “We are still very, very busy with buyers looking for holiday homes. In times of global uncertainty, there is always a flight to quality and Mayfair has benefitted a bit from that. People feel really safe buying property in Mayfair.

“Also Mayfair has really come into its own as the leading area within prime central London and there is very limited supply on the market.”

Camilla Dell, Black Brick’s Managing Partner: “I definitely think that there is a lot less doom and gloom than there was last year in the aftermath of the mini budget. People feel that inflation has peaked, and mortgage rates are looking more sensible.

“I think that there are definitely green shoots of hope.”

Caspar Harvard-Walls, a Partner at the agency, noted a “real sense of urgency” amongst UK buyers: “What we are hearing from agents is that their buyers are really focussed. Some of them are keen to be able to use mortgages they have had agreed at lower rates than they would get now.

“We also still have a hangover of people who have not moved house for a very long time, first because of Brexit, then the pandemic, and they are now just feeling it is time.”

Knight Frank’s latest index shows average prices in Prime Central London were flat in January, leaving the annual increase at 1.2%. A dip of 0.1% was recorded in Prime Outer London on a monthly basis, putting annual growth at 3.6%.

Prices in PCL are currently 1% below their March 2020 level, and 5% higher in POL.

The market is expected to face its big test in the spring, when more transactions tend to take place, and against the backdrop of a much-altered lending landscape.

How wealthy foreigners are using the weak pound to snap up London homes

Demand from foreign buyers surges in wake of mini-Budget and falling house prices

By Rachel Mortimer

Wealthy foreign buyers are snapping up London’s most expensive homes in cash, tempted by a cooling property market and weak pound.

Half of the homes sold in “prime” central London in January were bought without a mortgage, up from 42% in the same month in 2022 and 38% in January 2021, according to analysis by estate agency Hamptons.

Demand from international buyers, especially those with currencies pegged to the US dollar, surged in the wake of the mini-Budget last year as the pound dropped to a record low and they pounced on huge discounts.

The pound has since recovered to the level seen in August last year, but buyers who exchanged funds during the market dip are now reaping the rewards.

Victoria Allner, of BNP Paribas Real Estate, said foreign cash buyers were effectively securing a “double discount” on London homes.

Ms Allner said that some people were buying in cash and then taking mortgages out later.

She said: “International buyers, particularly those who are dollar-pegged from the US, Middle East and Asia have been looking to actively take advantage of the devalued sterling since the mini-budget.

“Their strategy is to buy now but leverage later – making the most of the slight decline in property values and the discount given by current currency levels, while not subjecting themselves to mortgage rates until they become more attractive.”

Ms Allner said one super wealthy client from the Middle East had exchanged their currency last year when the pound plummeted and now had a budget 25% bigger ready to spend on property.

She added: “It’s effectively in line with the discount between the pound and the dollar at the low of September.”

Buying agent Black Brick reported the share of cash buyers had more than doubled as borrowing costs rose throughout last year. Half of its clients now pay in cash, up from an average of 20% in previous years.

Cash buyers are favoured by sellers because they offer a quick and simple sale, unlike mortgage borrowers who must contend with an often arbitrary lending process. Their appeal is no different in prime markets.

Camilla Dell, of Black Brick, said: “Many vendors will place significant value on securing a cash buyer for their property, particularly in a market currently riven with down-valuations and fall throughs.

“They may even accept a lower offer for their property if the buyer is able to pay in cash. It is a buyers’ market at the moment and being a cash buyer means that you have a better chance of getting a better price agreed.”

Business from across the pond, she added, was booming. Almost a third of the company’s transactions in 2022 were with US buyers, more than double the 12.5% recorded in 2021.

Ms Dell said: “There’s an investment case for US dollar buyers to be eyeing the market right now.

“Prime central London property values are down 18pc since the peak in 2014, combined with the currency effect, dollar buyers are now getting a 42% discount compared to then, all making it very appealing.”

 

Leading buying agency, Black Brick to visit UAE and advise where to buy in London this year

Currently, 23% of Black Brick’s active clients are from the Middle East, with budgets ranging from £1.5m to £45m.

Black Brick, a leading London-based buying agency, is pleased to announce that its managing partner and founder, Camilla Dell, will be visiting the Middle East with a business trip to Dubai and Abu Dhabi at the end of January 2023.

A regular visitor to the region, Black Brick founder Camilla Dell will be leading the trip and meeting with potential clients and partners in the region, including several private banks, family offices, and high net worth clients. The primary focus of the trip is to update Middle Eastern clients on the London property market and raise the profile on the benefits of using a buying agent when considering purchasing property in London.

Currently, 23% of Black Brick’s active clients are from the Middle East, with budgets ranging from £1.5m to £45m. London is a highly attractive asset for Middle Eastern clients, due in part to its stable political environment, strong economy, and world-renowned educational and cultural institutions. The current weak pound is also making London property more attractive for Middle Eastern buyers, many of whom are dollar-based. The city offers a wide range of property options, from central London apartments to country estates, making it a desirable location for both personal and investment purposes.

In a year marked by unpredictability, Black Brick has still purchased almost £100m worth of property on behalf of clients from around the world. As the market becomes more cautious, half of these homes were sourced off market, up from a third in 2021, and the average discount on the asking price that Black Brick achieved for their clients was 4% or £40,000 per £1m. Half of Black Brick’s deals in 2022 were off-market, which can be difficult to access without professional representation.

In the past 12 months, seven out of ten of the homes purchased by Black Brick were apartments, compared to five out of ten in 2021. There has also been a resurgence of investor buyers, with one in five deals made on behalf of investors in 2022 compared to just six percent in 2021.

Black Brick has clients from a variety of nationalities, including the UK, the US, Africa, the Middle East and Europe.

Camilla Dell said, “We are excited to bring our expertise and unique approach to the Middle East and help clients in the region find their dream homes in London. Our commitment to excellent customer service and our focus on acting in the best interests of our clients make us a valuable asset in the London property market.”

Where to buy in London this year:

From historic West End enclaves with some of the best nightlife and shopping in the world on the doorstep, to leafy London villages with buzzy atmospheres and improving transport links – anybody considering buying a London home this year certainly has plenty of choice.

Picking the right postcode is a fine art – as well as considering the lifestyle and local amenities on offer, buyers need to have an ear to the property market ground to select a location with the staying power to ride out the inevitable ups and downs of the housing cycle.

To help you decide where to buy in 2023, these are Black Brick’s selection of the five key locations to watch over the next 12 months:

PRIME CENTRAL LONDON: MAYFAIR.

This roughly one mile square grid of streets and squares has been a prime London address ever since the late 17th century and clever curation of its public spaces and shopping streets means that when it comes to PCL Mayfair has firmly overtaken Knightsbridge as the place to be.

Stock is in short supply, and demand remains strong from both domestic and international buyers. Add to that the fact that few Mayfair vendors will be in a position of having to sell, means prices are likely to withstand any economic shocks the year may bring.

“Mayfair is one of those places where buyers are willing to pay a premium to live,” said Camilla Dell, managing partner of Black Brick. “They don’t expect to get big discounts.” Homes range from elegant townhouses to modern, ultra-luxury apartment buildings like Clarges Mayfair, Burlington Gate, and 1, Grosvenor Square.  The average sale price stands at £4.3m according to data from Rightmove. “One of the key things about Mayfair is the huge amount of investment that has been put into the area by the Grosvenor Estate – they are very particular about things like which shops go into Mount Street and – and there has also been a real explosion of exclusive new private members clubs and restaurants,” said Dell.

The delayed opening of the new Crossrail line at Bond Street in October has given Mayfair an extra fillip. “It will really appeal to buyers who come in and out of Heathrow,” said Black Brick property consultant Tom Kain.

PRIME LONDON FRINGES: NORTH KENSINGTON.

Samantha and David Cameron were early adopters of the W10 postcode, only leaving their family home to move into Downing Street in 2010.

Since then, North Ken has been on a quiet ascent. Golborne Road Market is a more peaceful, less tourist flooded, and altogether hipper alternative to Portobello Road, with pretty stalls and food trucks, artisanal cafes, restaurants, vintage shops, and boutiques.  This fact has not gone unnoticed by young British, European, and American buyers looking for a buzzy new neighbourhood to call home. And they are also cottoning on to the fact that they can get great value for money compared to Notting Hill, less than a mile away. In W10 a really smart property would sell for around £1,400 to £1,500 per sq ft said Kain. A similar property in Notting Hill could cost anywhere from £4,000 to £5,000 per sq ft.

UP AND COMING LONDON VILLAGE: HERNE HILL.

In the 1780s streets of fine houses were built in Herne Hill by wealthy merchants and bankers, earning it the nickname the “Belgravia of south London”. In more recent years it Herne Hill was overshadowed by the hipsterfication of its nearest neighbours, Brixton and Peckham. But as property prices there have swelled so buyers looking for value for money have started to explore Herne Hill.

What they have found is good quality period houses, plentiful green space, and an increasingly impressive range of gastropubs and restaurants. Little wonder that a ripple of young families – the “dogs and sprogs” crowd –looking for space and quality of life have adopted Herne Hill.

The most famous of these are, of course, Boris and Carrie Johnson, who are reported to have chosen a Edwardian villa on Stradella Road as their post-Westminster home.

The average sale price of apartments in Herne Hill last year was just under £500,000 according to Rightmove, with semi detached houses selling at close to £1.5m. Prices are now 10 per cent up on pre pandemic levels.

PRIME OUTER LONDON: ST. JOHN’S WOOD.

The jewel in the crown of north London, St John’s Wood with its affluent high street, amazing schools, and beautiful white stucco villas has long been a popular roost for families who tend to stay put for decades. “St John’s Wood has done really exceptionally well over the last 18 to 24 months,” said Dell.

The current average price for a flat in NW8 stands at just under £1.2m according to Rightmove, while semi detached houses fetch an average of just over £4.2m. And current sale prices are up 11 per cent compared to the 2018 peak. Beyond average prices, there have been some really super prime deals struck over the past couple of years. Three houses on the area’s premiere street, Hamilton Terrace sold for north of £20m, while unmodernised properties on the almost equally sought after Avenue Road are now trading for an exceptional £3,000 per sq ft.

“I think we will definitely see prices plateau this year, but this is the sort of area where people don’t need to sell if they don’t get the right price, so I don’t think we will see a drop off either,” said Dell. Historically one thing that SJW has lacked is prime apartment buildings to tempt local homeowners to downsize. Most local stock consists of dated mansion blocks.

There is clearly latent demand: homes at One St John’s Wood, a 12 storey building opposite Lord’s Cricket Ground, which completed in 2022, sold strongly at prices starting from £2.6m. And in November preparatory work finally started on the redevelopment of the St John’s Wood Barracks, which has been in the works for more than a decade. This 2.2-hectare site, formerly the headquarters for the Royal Horse Artillery, will bring 179 brand new homes to the market.

CROSSRAIL OUTPERFORMER: ACTON.

Ever since it was announced that London was to get a new train line, smart buyers have been eyeing this Victorian suburb as a natural step out from Notting Hill or Holland Park. And now that it is up and running its super-fast train links to the City and Canary Wharf are starting to tempt buyers who might once have preferred to live in Islington or Clerkenwell.

When the line is fully operational journeys to the City will take just over a quarter of an hour, and travellers can be in the West End in ten minutes.

These new arrivals have helped hike house prices in Acton by 59 per cent between 2012, when work on Crossrail began, and last year. And they have also contributed to a groundswell of organic local regeneration which is in the throes of transforming Acton from rather bland backwater into the new East Dulwich. Its de-facto high street, Churchfield Road, has become a hotspot for interesting independent shops and restaurants, galleries and gastropubs, many founded by new locals.

Acton has already had its fair share of investment – the £800m regeneration of the South Acton Estate to name but one – and more is to come. Transport for London is poised to start work on a £1bn scheme to build 850 new homes, plus offices, shops, and restaurants, close to the station which will give the gateway to Acton just the face lift it needs.

For more information about Black Brick and its services, please visit www.black-brick.com.

The new house price hotspots favoured by high earners

By Jayne Dowle

Wealth drivers — people with executive jobs — have long influenced house price growth. Now we reveal where they’re moving to next

If you want to follow the money, head to Dartford in Kent, Waltham Forest on the Essex borders, Trafford in Greater Manchester or Rushcliffe near Nottingham.

While gilt-edged London boroughs such as Kensington and Chelsea and Richmond upon Thames still attract the seriously wealthy, research from Savills finds some unlikely England and Wales hotspots where high-earners are making a huge impact on house prices.

Pulling together information from the 2021 national census and Land Registry house prices over the past ten years, the estate agency has focused on how an influx of “wealth drivers” (identified as managers, directors and senior officials, plus those in professional occupations) correlates to house price gains.

“Why did we do it? Because it’s a once in a decade opportunity to get your hands on this data,” says Lucian Cook, the report author and head of residential research for the estate agency. “The census is a really useful snapshot of household income. We’re already aware of some of the trends, but connecting the data with sold house prices allows you to investigate. It really tells us about the housing market and people’s life choices.”

Posh

Four London locations — the City of London, with 65 per cent of residents classed as high-earning, paying an average of £828,113 for a home; Richmond upon Thames (55 per cent, £976,160); Kensington and Chelsea (54 per cent, £2,409,454); and Westminster (53 per cent, £1,746,404) — top the locations with the largest concentration of wealthy residents. No surprises there then.

“These certainly are gilt-edged, although for different reasons,” says Guy Meacock, director of the buying agency Prime Purchase. “Kensington and Chelsea is London’s most cast-iron borough with a consistent density of high-income households and no weak spots; people will pay £50 million for one of the biggest houses on Upper Phillimore Gardens. It has enduring domestic appeal, although plenty of Americans are also interested.

“Westminster covers a wider cross-section of demographic and household income but includes top-end Belgravia and Mayfair — attractive to Middle Eastern buyers and ‘new money’.”

Meacock adds that the City of London is experiencing growth thanks to recent office-to-residential conversions creating handy pied-à-terres, and Richmond is a classic family favourite between town and countryside.

However, snapping at their well-shod heels is the city of Cambridge, fifth on the matrix of high-earners and high prices. As in Westminster, 53 per cent of homeowners in Cambridge are in the high-income bracket, but the average house price, at £557,714, is less than a third of that in the London borough — for now.

“In about the last four years we have seen a marked increase in buyers looking for houses in higher price ranges,” says Richard Freshwater, director of residential at the east of England estate agents Cheffins. “We have had a huge amount of people coming out of London — a lot attracted by the schooling and the fact that they can cycle to the station [the average rail journey time from Cambridge to London King’s Cross is an hour and 16 minutes]. However, it coincides with a massive change in the labour market. Increasingly, they are not having to go to their place of work every day.”

Getting posher

“When it comes to the rising ones in London, I could probably have told you without the data,” Cook says. “Less immediately obvious, boroughs such as Waltham Forest and Greenwich have seen quite significant increases, and so have Dartford, Bexley and Newham. London house prices are such that if people want to meet requirements for space, they will be pushed into areas they wouldn’t have previously considered buying in.”

Camilla Dell, managing partner at the buying agency Black Brick, says that a significant factor is lack of supply in better-established — but still, to some, outlying — family-oriented areas, such as Dulwich and Wimbledon. “The £2 million-plus market in Dulwich suffers from severely restricted supply, with many people staying for 20 to 30-year periods without moving,” she says.

However, it’s the Greater Manchester borough of Trafford — home to fancy, family-friendly Altrincham, Hale, Hale Barns and Bowdon — that tops Cook’s “Posh and Getting Posher” category, bringing together high-earners and impressive growth; 44 per cent here are top-flight professionals, a figure that has risen 28 per cent in a decade, underpinning a 73 per cent increase in house prices to an average of £417,306.

“The profile of the people I meet moving into the area reflects this,” confirms Philip Diggle, head of Gascoigne Halman’s Hale office. “But one key point is that I’m constantly acting for and finding properties for business owners. There’s a lot of entrepreneurial spirit in the north, people in control of their own destiny, rather than working for someone else.”

When it comes to a concentrated number of high-income households outside London and the South East (including Cambridge), Rushcliffe — centred on the Nottinghamshire town of West Bridgford — is highest, with 47 per cent, but its average house price remains a relatively modest £346,302.

“Until recently Rushcliffe wasn’t really on the radar, but the schools are good and it’s within easy striking distance to Nottingham city centre,” says Steven Gray, director of the local estate agency FHPLiving. “And the average house price hides some expensive properties — people are prepared to pay £625,000 for a Victorian semi with no parking.”

Cook also highlights Cardiff as gentrifying — more than a third (37 per cent) of residents are now classed as high-earners, a 19 per cent increase since 2011.

At £282,158, the average Cardiff house price also hides expensive individual homes. “The M4 corridor coming down towards Wales has been very busy,” says James Thomas, associate director at Savills in Cardiff. “And you can get to London [Paddington] from Newport by train in two hours — it’s really changed the way Cardiff is performing. We are lucky in that we have about six or eight suburbs that are really desirable, including Llandaff, Penarth and Cyncoed.”

Not so posh

Inevitably, Savills has also identified locations experiencing “entrenched challenges”, meaning less than 25 per cent of occupations are classed as high-earning, leading to subsequent low growth in house prices.

At the top is northeast Lincolnshire, where 21 per cent of residents are high-earning, representing a rise of 13 per cent over the past decade. In this period, house prices in local towns such as Grimsby and Immingham have risen by 38 per cent to a northeast Lincolnshire average of £160,528.

Tim Downing, director at the Lincolnshire-wide estate agency Pygott & Crone, says that recent opportunities — such as the offshore wind farm industry, the Freeport incorporating Immingham, Grimsby, Hull and Goole, and £20 million for Grimsby’s regeneration from the government’s Towns Fund — will help to turn this tide. “And going forward I would like to see a mainline service to London [from northeast Lincolnshire] and better train accessibility to Leeds and Sheffield,” he says.

Northeast Lincolnshire is followed by Bolsover in Derbyshire (23 per cent high-earners; £171,895 average house price) — handy for Sheffield and Leeds — and Walsall in the West Midlands (25 per cent; £213,391). All three areas have had a 13 per cent rise in high-earners since 2011.

Cook says that future activity depends on “whether the levelling up agenda can gain traction in these areas, because wealth is generated by employment”.

However, he predicts that the change in working patterns, with more people employed on an agile basis, will eventually lead to property searches over wider areas.

He singles out Exeter as a good example of this. “An area that piqued my interest in the South West, for example, is Exeter [where high-earning occupations have risen by 25 per cent in a decade, to 34 per cent of resident homeowners, rather than second-home owners]. The question is, does Exeter have the capacity to do a Bristol, where house prices have rocketed in the last ten years? It depends on the traction of higher-value earners. It might well be one to watch.”

 

The recession forecast: How will the property market fare in 2023?

Until the end of last year, the UK property market was going great guns. Prices were at an all-time high, even despite the fact that a pandemic had been raging for the best part of two years. At the start of 2020, the Bank of England feared that UK house prices could fall by 16 per cent; in actual fact, they went on a growth spree, jumping by almost 10 per cent in 2021 alone.

Then things began to change. War in Ukraine. Brexit fallout. The effects of Covid finally catching up with the economy. Cue a cost of living crisis, inflation, rising interest and mortgage rates… you know the drill all too well. January marks the fourth consecutive month that prices have fallen in London, and experts almost unanimously agree that the cooldown will continue, with one report by The Guardian forecasting drops of between 5 and 12 per cent (for the UK as a whole).

What will happen to the luxury property market?

All of that said, the luxury market is a different beast. Those purchasing prime property are less affected by the cost of living crisis and rising rates; research from Savills suggests that only a third of Prime Central London (PCL) homeowners have debt on their property. This means fewer forced sales and more holding of value. “Luxury, rare assets will always have demand over areas that are more susceptible, outside of prime central London,” says Camilla Dell, Managing Partner and Founder of independent buying agency Black Brick.

Dell forecasts that prices in prime London will drop two per cent this year, which is low, although she stresses that this should be taken with a pinch of salt: “Predicting property values is extremely difficult, particularly in a market like London where different property types and areas all factor hugely in determining how values will perform over time.” Even if the picture is worse than imagined, it may be a case of simply holding out, as inflation is predicted to peak in the middle of the year, meaning that “we should see some light at the end of the tunnel as we enter Q3 2023”.

Is now a good time to sell?

Buyers are hesitant at the moment, says Dell, and will probably “only take the plunge if they feel the deal/discount seems worthwhile”. So, the answer to the question? Only if you’re willing to be pragmatic on price, as “anything that is wildly overpriced probably won’t be considered at the moment”.

That said, demand is highly subject to where a property is located. London is a patchwork of neighbourhoods and many are retaining their value. The market is still active and even competitive for family homes with gardens in the £2-5 million range in suburbs such as Richmond, Wimbledon and Dulwich, for example.

On a more general level, buyers are looking for proximity to transport links, a good local high street and a park, according to Dell. “Post-pandemic, buyers want to feel like they are buying into a community,” she says. A premium is also being placed on properties with air conditioning as summers in London get hotter.

Is now a good time to buy?

If you’re buying in the current climate, you should make sure that your investment is a worthwhile one. Mayfair is always a good choice – a prime address since the 17th century, stock in this one-mile-square grid is in short supply, and demand remains strong. In prime outer London, look to St John’s Wood. Here, current sale prices are up 11 per cent compared to the 2018 peak.

If you want to be smart, Dell also recommends North Kensington, which she says “has been on a quiet ascent”. “Golborne Road Market is a less tourist-flooded and altogether hipper alternative to Portobello Road,” she continues. “Buyers are also cottoning on to the fact that they can get great value for money compared to Notting Hill, less than a mile away.” In W10, property sells for around £1,400 to £1,500 per sq ft; a similar property in Notting Hill could cost anywhere from £4,000 to £5,000 per sq ft.

Acton is another good choice. It has been the subject of considerable investment – including the arrival of super-fast train links to the City and Canary Wharf – and a £1 billion scheme to build homes, offices, shops and restaurants next to the station is in the pipeline. These new arrivals have helped hike house prices in Acton by 59 per cent between 2012 (when work on Crossrail began) and last year.

Finally, consider Herne Hill, says Dell: “It has previously been overshadowed by its neighbours, Brixton and Peckham. But as property prices have swelled, buyers looking for value for money have started to explore Herne Hill. Little wonder that a ripple of young families – the ‘dogs and sprogs’ crowd – have chosen this area.” The most famous of these is Boris and Carrie Johnson, who are reported to have chosen an Edwardian villa on Stradella Road as their post-Downing Street home.

It seems inevitable that prices will fall this year, and we shouldn’t expect more than above-inflationary growth for the next few years. However, the pinch will mainly be felt in the middle market, as opposed to prime London. That said, buyers will be more sluggish, and sellers should therefore be realistic about valuing their property. There are areas, however, that may, if not buck the trend, then outperform. Look for up-and-coming postcodes bolstered by great transport links, proximity to other areas and possession of other coveted features.

Read the article: https://luxurylondon.co.uk/property/property-market-forecast-2023-london-recession/

This is where to buy in London in 2023, according to a top buying agency

North Kensington, Herne Hill, Mayfair, St John’s Wood and Acton have been picked out as the top places to buy in London this year.

PCL acquisition firm Black Brick – which bought almost £100mn worth of property on behalf of its clients in 2022 – has come up with the list of neighbourhoods to help buyers choose a location “with the staying power to ride out the inevitable ups and downs of the housing cycle”.

Mayfair makes the cut in PCL, having “firmly overtaken Knightsbridge as the place to be”. Low supply and strong demand means prices are “likely to withstand any economic shocks the year may bring”, said the firm, and the arrival of Crossrail has provided another big boost.

Elsewhere, buyers priced out of Notting Hill are directed to nearby North Ken, while Herne Hill is the top pick for the “dogs and sprogs” crowd south of the river, on account of its fine housing stock and plentiful green space.

Here’s the team explaining the rationale behind the selections…

Prime Central London: Mayfair

This roughly one mile square grid of streets and squares has been a prime London address ever since the late 17th century and clever curation of its public spaces and shopping streets means that when it comes to PCL Mayfair has firmly overtaken Knightsbridge as the place to be.

Stock is in short supply, and demand remains strong from both domestic and international buyers. Add to that the fact that few Mayfair vendors will be in a position of having to sell, means prices are likely to withstand any economic shocks the year may bring.

“Mayfair is one of those places where buyers are willing to pay a premium to live,” said Camilla Dell, managing partner of Black Brick. “They don’t expect to get big discounts.”

Homes range from elegant townhouses to modern, ultra-luxury apartment buildings like Clarges Mayfair, Burlington Gate, and 1, Grosvenor Square.  The average sale price stands at £4.3m according to data from Rightmove.

“One of the key things about Mayfair is the huge amount of investment that has been put into the area by the Grosvenor Estate – they are very particular about things like which shops go into Mount Street and – and there has also been a real explosion of exclusive new private members clubs and restaurants,” said Dell.

The delayed opening of the new Crossrail line at Bond Street in October has given Mayfair an extra fillip.

“It will really appeal to buyers who come in and out of Heathrow,” said Black Brick property consultant Tom Kain.

Prime London Fringes: North Kensington

Samantha and David Cameron were early adopters of the W10 postcode, only leaving their family home to move into Downing Street in 2010.

Since then, North Ken has been on a quiet ascent.

Golborne Road Market is a more peaceful, less tourist flooded, and altogether hipper alternative to Portobello Road, with pretty stalls and food trucks, artisanal cafes, restaurants, vintage shops, and boutiques.

This fact has not gone unnoticed by young British, European, and American buyers looking for a buzzy new neighbourhood to call home. And they are also cottoning on to the fact that they can get great value for money compared to Notting Hill, less than a mile away.

“In W10, a really smart property would sell for around £1,400 to £1,500 per sq ft,” said Kain.

“A similar property in Notting Hill could cost anywhere from £4,000 to £5,000 per sq ft”.

Up and Coming London Village: Herne Hill

In the 1780s streets of fine houses were built in Herne Hill by wealthy merchants and bankers, earning it the nickname the “Belgravia of south London”.

In more recent years it Herne Hill was overshadowed by the hipsterfication of its nearest neighbours, Brixton and Peckham. But as property prices there have swelled so buyers looking for value for money have started to explore Herne Hill.

What they have found is good quality period houses, plentiful green space, and an increasingly impressive range of gastropubs and restaurants. Little wonder that a ripple of young families – the “dogs and sprogs” crowd – looking for space and quality of life have adopted Herne Hill.

The most famous of these are, of course, Boris and Carrie Johnson, who are reported to have chosen a Edwardian villa on Stradella Road as their post-Westminster home.

The average sale price of apartments in Herne Hill last year was just under £500,000 according to Rightmove, with semi detached houses selling at close to £1.5m. Prices are now 10 per cent up on pre pandemic levels.

Prime Outer London: St John’s Wood

The jewel in the crown of north London, St John’s Wood with its affluent high street, amazing schools, and beautiful white stucco villas has long been a popular roost for families who tend to stay put for decades.

“St John’s Wood has done really exceptionally well over the last 18 to 24 months,” said Dell.

The current average price for a flat in NW8 stands at just under £1.2m according to Rightmove, while semi detached houses fetch an average of just over £4.2m. And current sale prices are up 11 per cent compared to the 2018 peak.

Beyond average prices, there have been some really super prime deals struck over the past couple of years. Three houses on the area’s premier street, Hamilton Terrace sold for north of £20m, while unmodernised properties on the almost equally sought after Avenue Road are now trading for an exceptional £3,000 per sq ft.

“I think we will definitely see prices plateau this year, but this is the sort of area where people don’t need to sell if they don’t get the right price, so I don’t think we will see a drop off either,” said Dell.

Historically one thing that SJW has lacked is prime apartment buildings to tempt local homeowners to downsize. Most local stock consists of dated mansion blocks.

There is clearly latent demand: homes at One St John’s Wood, a 12 storey building opposite Lord’s Cricket Ground, which completed in 2022, sold strongly at prices starting from £2.6m.

And in November preparatory work finally started on the redevelopment of the St John’s Wood Barracks, which has been in the works for more than a decade. This 2.2-hectare site, formerly the headquarters for the Royal Horse Artillery, will bring 179 brand new homes to the market.

Crossrail Outperformer: Acton

Ever since it was announced that London was to get a new train line, smart buyers have been eyeing this Victorian suburb as a natural step out from Notting Hill or Holland Park.

And now that it is up and running its super-fast train links to the City and Canary Wharf are starting to tempt buyers who might once have preferred to live in Islington or Clerkenwell.

When the line is fully operational journeys to the City will take just over a quarter of an hour, and travellers can be in the West End in ten minutes.

These new arrivals have helped hike house prices in Acton by 59 per cent between 2012, when work on Crossrail began, and last year. And they have also contributed to a groundswell of organic local regeneration which is in the throes of transforming Acton from rather bland backwater into the new East Dulwich.

Its de-facto high street, Churchfield Road, has become a hotspot for interesting independent shops and restaurants, galleries and gastropubs, many founded by new locals.

Acton has already had its fair share of investment – the £800m regeneration of the South Acton Estate to name but one – and more is to come. Transport for London is poised to start work on a £1bn scheme to build 850 new homes, plus offices, shops, and restaurants, close to the station which will give the gateway to Acton just the face lift it needs.

House of cards: why are so many property sales collapsing?

By Ruth Bloomfield

The number of deals falling through is rising

Moving house is said to be one of the most stressful life experiences, right up there with bereavement and divorce. But what about the stress of not moving? Amid the upheavals of the past few months increasing numbers have seen their property ladder dreams collapse around their ears.According to market analyst TwentyCi there has been a ‘sharp increase’ in the number of deals falling through. More than 90,000 agreed sales disintegrated between July and September, an 18 per cent increase on the same period in 2019.

Wendy and William Waterton know exactly what it feels like to be on the sharp end of a collapsing sale. In the past two years it has happened to them twice. The couple bought their one-bedroom starter flat in Woolwich, south-east London, for £320,000 in 2017. By November 2020, with a young family, they were ready for a larger home closer to family in north London.

They put the flat on the market for £325,000, but small flats without outside space were a hard sell during the pandemic. It was not until December 2021 that they accepted an offer of £315,000.

The couple packed their bags, planning to move in with relatives and start house-hunting once the flat was sold. They hoped to complete in March this year. ‘Then in February our buyers said they had found a property which suited their needs better – we had no idea they were still looking – and pulled out,’ said William, 30, a management accountant. ‘It was devastating.’

In May he and Wendy, also 30, who runs an online cosmetics store, steeled themselves for another attempt to sell and put the property back on the market. The couple and their two children also went ahead and moved in with William’s parents so the flat would be vacant.

Over the summer they accepted an offer of £312,000 and, once more, everything seemed to be progressing nicely. Then came the mini-Budget. By the end of that week, with the mortgage markets in turmoil, their buyer had pulled out.

To make matters worse the couple had used the Help to Buy scheme when they bought the flat, which means renting it out for a while is not an option. All they have been able to do is drop the price, to £305,000, and hope for a case of third time lucky.

‘Our fear is that it has now been on the market for so long that people will think there is something wrong with it,’ said William. ‘In reality it has just been a series of events – the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the cost of living crisis – happening around us.’

Given the likelihood that interest rate rises will continue, and amid forecasts of substantial house price drops in 2023, it is likely that Wendy and William’s experience is going to become more commonplace, afflicting all sectors of the market.

In the north London suburbs veteran agent Jeremy Leaf, of Jeremy Leaf & Co estate agents, said his team have had to do some ‘severe arm-twisting’ to keep deals on track, particularly when dealing with anxious first-time buyers confronted with the prospect of higher monthly repayments. He agrees things could get worse before they get better, with the number of completed sales dropping off next year. ‘Buyer enquiries have reduced substantially since the mini-Budget and are only slowly starting to improve,’ he said.

Agents have started to hear whispers of the return of gazundering – the practice of attempting to renegotiate a lower price on the verge of exchange

Another breed of buyer, meanwhile, is keen to use the faltering economic situation as an excuse to try their luck. Camilla Dell, managing partner of buying agency Black Brick, has started to hear whispers of the return of gazundering – the practice of attempting to renegotiate a lower price after an offer has been accepted and a deal is on the verge of exchange.

In prime central London, she said, this approach tends to fail because few owners are so desperate to sell that they will take a last-minute lowball offer. ‘What has happened is that not only have the vendors said no, but they have also decided not to sell their property to that buyer, so it is not a strategy which is working,’ she said.

Beyond London, locations which were red-hot during the pandemic are now seeing a wave of deals fall through. Carol Peett, managing director of West Wales Property Finders, has noticed a string of properties ‘reappearing’ on the market a couple of months after going under offer. She blames the surveyors who carry out valuations on behalf of mortgage lenders who, she feels, have a habit of undervaluing properties.

‘In many cases, they send valuers from outside the area who do not understand the nuances of the local market,’ she said. ‘A property with a sea view may be three times more valuable than one in the same postcode without a sea view or slightly inland and down value accordingly. Unless people have a substantial deposit to cover the shortfall, the transaction falls through.’

In Cornwall, another lockdown property hotspot, Josephine Ashby, a director of John Bray Estates, said many discretionary second-home owners simply change their minds and withdraw property offers – and the way the UK buying system is designed can do so without penalty. Unfortunately, their decision can break lengthy chains of buyers and sellers, sending everyone back to square one.

‘Reservation deposits prior to exchange is an interesting idea,’ she said. ‘We see them frequently with new-build properties, but they could be used more for existing properties. This would make buyers think twice before withdrawing from a transaction they entered into.’

Jeremy Leaf thinks that vendors should have to produce an information pack giving details on their property upfront, to avoid would-be buyers discovering late in the game that a home suffers from subsidence or has a Japanese knotweed issue. He would also like local councils and managing agents to be encouraged to respond to queries faster; the more time spent chasing up information during the conveyancing process, the more time there is for buyer or seller to get cold feet or mortgage deals to expire.

Whatever happens over the next year or two, buying agent Nina Harrison, London specialist at Haringtons, who has been buying and selling property for 30 years, has comforting words for younger buyers shocked by the sudden deflation of the property market. ‘In 2023 I think we will see a dip which is something that Gen Zs have never experienced before – but as with all roller-coasters there will be a climb again,’ she said.

Gazundering backfires for buyers as deals collapse

One major London estate agency has seen 20% of its sales pipeline fall through as a result of buyers trying to renegotiate prices, reports acquisition firm Black Brick.

The practice of gazundering reared its head in the wake of the ill-fated mini-budget, but it doesn’t sound like vendors have been buying it.

“Some buyers treated the Truss imbroglio not as a problem but as an opportunity”, according to PCL acquisition firm Black Brick, as punchy purchasers lowered their offers at the last minute to push sellers into offering a deal.

Buyers’ attempts to renegotiate at the last minute are not working in PCL, says Camilla Dell

“I spoke to a large central London agency – they have seen 20% of their pipeline fall through where buyers have tried to renegotiate prices,” said managing partner Camilla Dell.

“What has happened is that not only have the vendors said no, but they have also decided not to sell their property to that buyer so it is not a strategy which is working”.

Opportunities to buy at distressed levels “will be few and far between,” she added, suggesting a “more constructive” way to approach the delicate negotiation process is to understand both what a fair market price is for a particular property and the needs of its vendor.

Despite the somewhat gloomy market conditions, if sellers do not have a mortgage or are simply testing the market, buyers are warned that a below-market offer is “highly unlikely to be positively received”.

Inevitably there will always be those keen to chance their arm and this, said Dell, means that while central London prices should remain fairly stable over the next few years, transaction numbers “may well tail off”.

Some investors and buyers ‘have a fixation on discounts and bargains’

Those holding out for GFC-level price falls are likely to be disappointed, she added: “Some investors, and buyers in general are really hoping that prices will come down 20%, like they did in the financial crisis…they have this fixation on discounts and bargains.

“But in Prime Central London only one in three people have taken debt to buy their properties.

“Frankly, they don’t need to sell, and if prices do come down they won’t.

“I know that is going to be very, very disappointing to some people, but buyers should be focussing on whether a property is the right home for them and their family, somewhere they are going to be able to live for ten years.”

Both Savills and Knight Frank expect PCL to outperform the rest of the country in the years ahead – with the least dramatic price correction in 2023 and the highest cumulative price growth to 2027.

House prices are falling. Should I wait to sell my property?

By Melissa York

After all the recent political and financial turmoil, we take the temperature of the residential property market.

After two years of rocketing house prices, the property market is coming back down to earth. The average house price in the UK decreased for the first time in 15 months, dropping £4,000 from £272,259 to £268,282, in October, according to Nationwide. The estate agency Savills predicts prices will fall by 10 per cent on average next year, and the number of sales will reach its lowest level since 2011.

“There are more price reductions at the moment than new listings,” says Jonathan Hopper, chief executive of the buying agency Garrington. “I think the scale and the shock of what’s unfolded politically and economically over the last six weeks has driven the message home that this isn’t a changing market, it’s a changed market.”

With prices expected to fall further in the coming year, sellers will be keen to sell while buyers will want to wait — creating an impossible standoff. So should you wait or should you bid low and go? Here’s our guide to where you have room to negotiate and the markets where you’ll be laughed out of a viewing for trying.

Will price falls help me as a first-time buyer?
Property values increased by 13.6 per cent in the year to August, according to official statistics, which means that if house prices were to fall by 5 per cent, this would just take prices in London back to August 2021 levels. Meanwhile, prices in Wales would drop to March 2022 prices.

Higher mortgage rates are going to hit first-time buyers at the lower end of the market hardest, because these are the buyers who need to borrow the most and are most likely to be feeling squeezed by the rising cost of living. As a result there are 27 per cent fewer buyers for properties costing less than £250,000 than there were last year, according to Hamptons estate agency, and 14 per cent fewer homes going on sale due to the increased price of moving up the ladder.

Record-breaking rents, however, mean it’s worth buying if you can. Sarah Coles, senior personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, a financial services company, says someone hoping to buy a £296,000 property may see the price drop £14,800 over the next year, but they would spend £13,944 renting the same property in that time. “When you bear in mind that all of this cash would go to a landlord rather than paying down the mortgage, it feels like less of a win,” she says.

Can I lower my offer after it has been accepted?
An offer isn’t legally binding until exchange of contracts in England and Wales. This is not the case in Scotland, where the accepted offer is legally binding, although buyers can make an offer subject to survey.

 

Fine & Country has this six-bedroom detached home in Shropshire for offers over £1 million, reduced from £1.2 million.

Once an offer has been accepted, the seller is legally bound to sell it to the buyer at that price. They do not have to accept a lower offer, they can simply quit the sale and put the property back on the market.

Gazundering, or lowering your offer just before exchange of contracts, is seen as bad form as it takes the seller back to square one and it can affect everyone in the property sales chain.

Long conveyancing times mean that some mortgage offers are expiring before exchange, forcing buyers to take on loans at higher interest rates than they had originally budgeted for. If this is the case, the seller may be sympathetic.

Where is there room for negotiation?
“It’s your boring, everyday, lower-price houses in a mundane town that are sticking around because those are where the buyers are having to tighten their belts,” says Carol Peett, managing director of buying agency West Wales Property Finders. “Any nice property is still selling incredibly quickly and smallholdings and properties with sea views are going way over asking.”

A four-bedroom detached house in Coventry, with 12 acres of paddocks and fields, is on the market for £1.4 million, reduced by £100,000, with Fine & Country.

The hardest properties to sell, where there may be more willingness on the side of the seller to negotiate, are below £100,000 (Hamptons figures show they are spending 21 days longer on the market) and properties between £250,000 to £500,000 (18 days longer).

The cost of living crisis is motivating a new breed of seller at both ends of the property spectrum who may be open to negotiation. Empty nesters who used to be happy underoccupying large properties but are finding them increasingly unaffordable to run, and mortgaged buy-to-let landlords in the South East, where yields are typically lower than in the North, who are unable to raise the rent enough to meet their rising mortgage repayments, according to the Surrey-based buying agent Richard Winter.

“There are discounts on uniform new-build-type properties that can only compete with each other on price. We’re seeing classic developer incentives — part-exchange, chain-break — creeping back in,” Hopper says. “Properties that require a lot of work are out of fashion too, because of the rising cost of construction and materials, and the reliance on cash to get around higher borrowing costs.”

How much can I bid below asking?
Almost 7 per cent of homes have had their asking prices cut by more than 5 per cent, according to the property portal Zoopla. Average discounts and prices are a blunt tool, however, and should be used as a rough guide. It all depends what you’re buying and where.

Fairview House in Berkshire is on the market for £2.25 million, recently reduced by £350,000 with Strutt & Parker.

So far this year, you were most likely to get an offer accepted under asking price on a sub-£100,000 (asking prices down 1.4 per cent on last year) first-time buyer purchase (down 1.4 per cent) in the countryside (1.3 per cent down), according to Hamptons.

Hopper says: “The big thing we’re seeing win negotiations is certainty. There is so much nervousness among sellers at the moment that being able to demonstrate that you are organised and you can hit deadlines is something that will give you room on price.”

“Four or five months ago, I had an offer accepted on a house at £1.75 million that went for over the asking price,” Winter says. “That fell through and went under offer four weeks ago at £1.65 million.”

An increasing number of properties are appearing on the property portals with asking price reductions as sellers face up to the harsh reality that the premiums seen during the pandemic, fuelled by the stamp-duty-holiday frenzy, are long gone.

This four-bedroom home in Trowbridge is on the market for £1.5 million, reduced from £1.65 million with Peter Greatorex.

Dominic Agace, chief executive of the estate agency Winkworth, says sellers need to be more “realistic . . . This doesn’t mean going backwards in prices, but instead not setting new records in the street.”

There will always be postcodes where demand outweighs supply. Hopper still sees four or five offers per property in the Cotswolds and Hampshire, but he is also seeing sellers that would traditionally wait for the spring putting their homes on the market now — or going off-market to test the waters — who are fearful of further rate rises in the new year.

Where are the best markets for buyers and sellers?
It’s best to be a seller right now at the lower end of the market in cities in the north and the Midlands, where value for money is better and house price-to-income ratios are lower.

More than a third (34 per cent) of properties in Britain attract three or more offers, Hamptons figures show, but the places where bidding wars are most common are in the North West (40.4 per cent), Scotland (39.3 per cent), the East Midlands (39.1 per cent) and Yorkshire (38.1 per cent). Buyer demand increased the most in the Old Trafford district of Manchester (48 per cent) and Liverpool city centre (30 per cent) between June and September, according to the data analyst PropCast.

Strutt & Parker have reduced this five-bedroom barn conversion in Sussex by £55,000. It’s on the market for £1.195 million.

It’s also a great time to be selling at the top end of the market, where buyers are largely insulated from mortgage rate rises because they don’t need a loan or they don’t need to sell. Properties worth £1 million or more are now selling 17 days faster than in October 2021, Hamptons reports.

In London, 5 per cent more homes are selling for above asking price than last year, and it was the region with the biggest rise in buyer demand, up 11.6 per cent on last year. PropCast data shows that the City of London and the West End are back.

With pandemic travel restrictions now a distant memory, international buyers have returned and are taking advantage of the slump in the pound. Camilla Dell, at the buying agency Black Brick, has recently done a number of deals in Notting Hill and Mayfair. “There’s a lot of international money swirling around. Most sellers are just really bullish at the moment in prime central London,” she says.

As for buyers, Savills predicts the biggest price falls in the next year will be in regions with the highest house prices where most of the market is reliant on credit. It’s for this reason that values are forecast to tumble 12.5 per cent in Greater London; 11 per cent in the east of England and the South East; and 10 per cent in the South West.

PropCast’s data shows that the biggest fall in buyer demand between June and September was in Totland Bay on the Isle of Wight (54 per cent drop), Deansgate in Manchester (40 per cent), Henley-in-Arden near Stratford-upon-Avon (37 per cent) and Amlwch on Anglesey (36 per cent).

Chris Druce, who produces the Prime Country House Index for the estate agency Knight Frank, says: “It’s getting back to a more classic market. Covid destroyed that seasonality, and I think this year we are returning to that quiet time during the winter and then it will ramp up again in spring when the houses start to look their best.”

How low will prices go?

Property prices are expected to continue falling as the cost of living crisis deepens with inflation and interest rates rising, but by how much, and how fast, is the subject of conjecture, writes Carol Lewis.

One of the most pessimistic forecasts has come from Simon French, chief economist at Panmure Gordon, an investment bank, who predicts that house prices will fall by 14 per cent over the next three years (or 29 per cent when accounting for inflation). Andrew Wishart, senior property economist at Capital Economics, a consultancy, expects prices to fall 9 per cent in 2023 and 3 per cent in 2024. Tom Bill, head of residential research at Knight Frank, believes they will fall by 5 per cent next year and 5 per cent the year after.

It’s not just prices that will fall though; transactions too will be hit. Lucian Cook, head of residential research at Savills, estimates that 190,000 fewer people will buy a home next year than this year. Hardest hit will be first-time buyers, with 110,000 fewer able to buy.

Q&A: Navigating the London property market

Experts in the Investec network explore the outlook for the London property market in the current economic climate.

As the UK economy continues to be subjected to inflationary pressures and rising interest rates, many of our clients are closely monitoring the property market to understand how these challenges may impact their investments and buying decisions in the coming months.

Here, Lucian Cook, Head of Residential Research at Savills, and Camilla Dell, Founder of Black Brick Property Solutions, explore how some of these inflationary pressures have impacted the property market, alongside Investec Private Banker Louise North.

Prior to the mini-budget, what factors have driven changes in the property market?

Lucian: During the pandemic, many people reassessed what they wanted from their home, and the race for space, the catalyst of a generous Stamp Duty holiday and the ability to lock in low interest rates drove price growth during this period.

Between March 2020 and June 2022, there was a significant divergence between the Prime Central London market where there was a lack of international demand, and regional prime markets. In Prime Central London, we saw a net price growth of 26% compared to a growth of 16% in the prime regional markets, and up to 21% in the prime country house markets.

More recently, as the London markets have begun to gather some pace, we’ve seen a slowdown in the prime markets outside of the city.

What is the current outlook for prime property in the UK?

Lucian: Much of what’s happening in the market has been driven by inflation expectations. Over the summer months we saw a significant change in the economic outlook, with an expectation that inflation might peak at highs of 13%.

More recently, we saw our seventh consecutive interest rate increase, bringing the base rate to 2.25%. This has put more pressure on people’s finances, while making people question the amount of debt they are comfortable with.

Against this context, we’ve seen a softening of people’s commitment to move within the short term. This has seen a notable increase of buyers ‘cutting their cloth’, with 29% of respondents to our most recent client survey saying they have reduced their budgets.

That caution has been exacerbated by more recent events and so it is likely see us enter a period of lower transaction volumes and a more price-sensitive domestic market; with some of the price growth seen in the past two years being eroded.  Central London is likely to be insulated from some of those pressures, given that buyers are much less reliant on debt.”

In terms of enquiries, what activity have you seen in the property market, since the mini-budget?

Camilla: The slump in sterling as a result of the UK’s ‘mini-budget’ has seen a rise of enquiries from buyers with funds in US dollars, who are looking to take advantage of the exchange rate. The enquiries have mainly come from buyers from the USA, Middle East and West Africa who are seeking homes in Prime Central London (PCL) with budgets which range from £3million to £20 million. These buyers will be purchasing at an approximate discount of 20% compared to the same period last year, a significant saving to say the least.

London remains a desirable choice for overseas buyers, particularly those from emerging markets, as it’s thought of a safe haven and has always provided reasonable yields combined with good long-term capital growth.

That said, there remains a supply issue in Prime Central London which is unlikely to disappear with the current drop in the pound, rising interest rates and inflation. Many homeowners with US dollar commitments will have purchased property when the pound was much stronger and will not want to crystalize their losses by selling.

Our view remains that we will see a “flight to quality” as we did in 2007/08. Buyers looking to diversify their wealth will be drawn to best in class assets. The main challenge will be finding those assets at reasonable prices.

We are yet to see evidence of price falls, but inevitably there will be some. We see this being limited to outer prime areas of London and in the sub £2m part of the market.

Given the supply issues that we’ve been experiencing, what is the best way for a buyer to find the right home?

Camilla: We recommend buyers use a buying agent as websites may not reflect the whole market. Forty-two per cent of properties we sourced for clients last year were not being openly advertised.

Buyers should also register with all of the estate agents in their area of interest and make sure that agents know that finance is in place as they are likely to prioritise organised buyers.

How are interest rate changes impacting the use of mortgages in the prime property market?

Lucian: While there is a lot of equity, there is still a relatively extensive use of mortgage debt in parts of the prime market. Within prime South West London, around two-thirds of buyers are using mortgage debt, whereas in Central London it’s at just over a third.  Here debt is more likely to be used on a discretionary basis as part of buyers financial planning.

Risk around interest rates has also seen an increase in buyers looking to fix their debt for a period of five years or more. As we move towards peak interest rates, we may see people locking into a variable rate to cash in on a potential fall in interest rates later down the line, especially given the recent disruption in the mortgage markets.

What is Investec seeing in terms of mortgage requirements?

Louise: Our approach to how we structure a mortgage means we can look at a client’s situation holistically and build a mortgage that suits their specific needs, so no one mortgage necessarily looks the same. That flexibility, coupled with the ability to get the transaction done quickly, is what helps in this type of market.

For example, some clients want to tailor repayment plans so that repayments coincide with liquidity events and support cash flow. We can also explore interest-only elements or fixed rate mortgage options for them.

We are familiar with complex income structures including a salary, bonus, foreign currency income or carry and this can help provide an accurate assessment of affordability and enable us to work efficiently. At the moment, this is especially beneficial for the banking or legal professionals we work with who want to leverage income in US dollars.

We’re encouraging anyone who wants to review their situation to get in touch to discuss the options.

Nick Candy flips £8.7m Mayfair flat to cash in on pound slump

In prime central London, it’s open season for wealthy investors from abroad with dollars to burn.

By Emanuele Midolo

The property developer Nick Candy has always had a talent for attracting new wealth. In the early 2000s it was Russian oligarchs; in the 2010s, with the creation of One Hyde Park, he added sheikhs and Chinese businessmen. Now the husband of the former Neighbours actress and singer Holly Valance is trying to lure wealthy Americans.

“Because of the pound slump it’s a unique time to buy prime triple-A real estate assets,” Candy, 49, says. He adds that this is “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity”, with the pound expected to strengthen against the US dollar over the next few months.

Candy is personally hoping to cash in on the slump in sterling — the most severe decline in the history of the currency. He is selling a three-bedroom flat in the Mayfair area of London for £8.75 million. Having finished refurbishing the property two weeks ago, he opted to put it on the market immediately. “The size of the apartment is perfect,” he says. “It was just a bit tired and run-down; it needed a new kitchen and new bathrooms — it needed to be ‘Candyfied’.”

Land Registry records show that he bought the duplex in November for £5.6 million. The vendor was Bernard Looney, the Irish-born chief executive of BP.

“We were considering letting it, but we’d prefer to sell,” Candy says, adding that it had already been viewed by potential buyers, mostly from the US, Canada and the UAE. “It’s Mayfair, it sits by the Connaught Hotel, it will always interest international buyers. I’ve been told that the building has got six FTSE 250 chief executives in it.”

“As soon as the pound crashed against the dollar we got inundated with calls,” says Guy Bradshaw, managing director of Sotheby’s International Realty. “Dollar buyers hold the trump card these days . . . When you are a cash buyer, not having to worry about interest rates and mortgage products being pulled off the market, you’ve got an ace in your hand.”

Bradshaw adds that many such buyers are shrewd businessmen. “They say that if they buy now, at the current exchange rate, they pretty much have a guaranteed exit strategy in three to five years’ time, once the [value of the pound] goes back up,” he says. “They’re going to make a lot of money.”

Marc Schneiderman, director of the Arlington Residential estate agency, sold a John Nash terraced house near Regent’s Park to an American businessman last month. It had been on the market for £15 million, but the buyer eventually managed to negotiate the price down to £13 million. Combining that discount with the currency fluctuation, he has saved about $5 million on what he would have paid in March, when he first viewed the property.

“These are people who have been looking for properties for a while, some since the beginning of the year,” Schneiderman says. “They’re now flying in determined to buy. The US buyers have been reacting quicker, jumping on a plane and coming here, but Middle Eastern investors are following suit.”

Owners of large properties in London are moving quickly too. Rosy Khalastchy, a director at Beauchamp Estates in the capital, says that she had a number of instructions with vendors hoping to lure foreign buyers. “We have had about half a dozen new listings,” she says, “and we have also had a flurry of clients asking us to inspect their homes and keep them in mind should a dollar-based buyer want a property in their area.”

Khalastchy adds that she knows of 11 dollar-based buyers looking to buy super-prime properties in central London, each with a budget of between £70 million and £100 million. “From these buyers alone, this is potentially £1.1 billion worth of London real estate being sought due to the market conditions,” she says.

According to Savills, price growth in central London paused in the past quarter, with the figure down by 0.2 per cent on the previous quarter. But properties in the city valued at £10 million or more continued to outperform, recording year-on-year growth of 4.3 per cent.

“Our client list looks a bit like it did in 2007 and 2008, before the great financial crisis,” says Camilla Dell, managing partner of the Black Brick buying agency. “[Other than the Americans], a lot of them work in the oil and gas industry, and a lot are from west Africa. I think that we will see a ‘flight to quality’ as we did in 2007. Buyers looking to diversify their wealth will be drawn to best-in-class assets.”