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Posts Tagged ‘London Property Market’

London Popularity Booming With Overseas Investors

Monday, February 6th, 2012

In recent weeks and months a huge amount has been written about overseas investors buying property in London, and so today we are raising the question, why?

Why is London property amongst the most popular in the world?

It may seem like a fairly easy question to answer, London is, after all, one of the biggest and best cities in the world and one of the global financial hubs too. It is famed the world over for its infrastructure, shops, town houses, popular landmarks and parliament buildings. Let’s be honest, there is just so much to be seen and done in the UK capital!

Furthermore, the Olympic Games are coming to town in the summer which is undoubtedly one of the reasons why so much buzz surrounds the capital at the moment. Celebrities the world over will descend upon London for the few weeks that the Olympic Games takes place as will the super rich and super powerful!

London also has such a rich and interesting history and walking the streets one can, at times, feel that history reverberating around the place.

The Main Reason?

However, one of the main reasons why so many overseas investors are looking to London for their property purchases, and thus requiring property insurance quotes, is one that you may not have thought of as it is certainly not an obvious one.

And that is the high standard of education available to children. The Chief Executive of London Central Portfolio, Naomi Heaton, has explained that the third generation of a wealthy overseas family may be taught in British primary schools due to the thought that after someone has made their fortune they are likely to put their children through the British education system, including a university education.

Another Main Reason

In addition, Ms Heaton has been explaining further reasons why London is popular with overseas buyers: “People feel very comfortable here, it is a cosmopolitan society, it is one of the most visited destinations in the world, it is the centre geographically, financially and culturally [of the UK].”

London has such an extensive past, present and future and so many reasons for overseas investors to pump their money into property and such reasons are only likely to continue growing.

Tags: London 2012, London Property, London Property Investors, London Property Market, Overseas Investors, Property Insurance Quotes
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Top Property Locations

Monday, January 23rd, 2012

I came across an interesting article today that discussed the best locations to invest in London in 2012, and the list was a rather surprising one.

Property prices in London have been rising and they are expected to keep increasing over the year, especially with the Olympics coming to town in the summer which, as we know, will result in rents rocketing, but prices to buy in London will also be effected, which could in turn effect property insurance quotes too. The more expensive a property, the more expensive the insurance is likely to be.

So, what are the top three areas that will be the winners over the course of the year and subsequent years to come?

Kentish Town

First on the list was Kentish Town and Peter Malcomess of Chesterton Humberts has been quoted saying: “With the opening of the new French school in Kentish Town last September, enquiries on family homes directly related to the school currently make up around 15% of all our enquiries. These requests are mainly from French families living in London looking for large apartments or family houses in the area.” Kentish Town is now beginning to compete, in terms of property prices, with its neighbour Camden.

Would you look to invest in Kentish Town if you’re a property investor?

Battersea

Second on the list is Battersea, home to the much loved dog rescue facility. Battersea was listed as the second best place to invest in 2012 due to the fact that an extension to the Northern Line will put Battersea on the Tube Map once and for all. A local estate agent at Douglas & Gordon, Mark Hutton, has been upbeat about the new plans as people are already looking to invest, as he stated: “People are already buying into the area with these plans in mind.”

Furthermore, David Barnett, a property developer has been stating that investors will increasingly become attracted to the large expanse of land, the accessibility and the fact that the land is relatively cheap. The American Embassy is also to be built in coming years which will in turn help with the regeneration of the area.

Croydon

Third on the list was Croydon. Now this to me was quite a surprise at first, especially if you think back to the riots in August last year, however, we must not forget that the South London borough is already home to some very wealthy property owners and some very expensive homes, and it has great links to central London.

Over coming years property in Croydon is also expected to become increasingly popular, and therefore prices are set to rise. There are also plans for a Westfield Shopping Centre to open there which will of course pull in visitors from all over the country! Croydon could indeed become a property hotspot in future months and years.

Out of these three locations, hypothetically, where would you most likely invest your money?

Tags: London Property, London Property Market, Property Insurance Quotes, Top Locations
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2011 Creates Property Millionaires

Monday, December 19th, 2011

2011 has been a mixed year for many home owners it seems, especially now with the news that this year has created 26,744 new property millionaires, despite the average property price in the UK falling by 3% to £221,128.

Millionaires Created Every Day

A high demand for prime properties from equity-rich buyers coupled with relatively low supply of large homes has helped to create 73 new property millionaires every single day in 2011. This information has been revealed by Zoopla.co.uk. Another rather astonishing figure is that one in every 108 homes in the UK is now valued at £1 million or more whereas during the peak of the property market in 2007 that figure stood at one in 97.

Research has found that there are now 253,118 homes in the UK that are worth more than £1 million. Unsurprisingly, the largest rise in the number of property millionaires was in London where the amount has increased by 18% over the year. London also now accounts for over half the national total of properties worth at least £1 million at 55%.

Steep Prices in London

Our capital city has consistently been one of the only places in the UK that has seen rising property prices during the economic downturn. Demand in London is still so strong despite the recession. It is, after all, the financial hub of the UK and one of the busiest, most popular and most loved cities in, not just Europe, but the world. So with that all in mind, it is really not a surprise in the slightest that property markets in London have remained so strong.

With the Olympics on the way next year, it is also likely that property prices will rise further, and it is expected that rental prices will also see an upward trend over the coming months.

Furthermore, London was home to nine of the top 10 areas in Britain with the highest property prices. The highest proportion of £1 million or more homes was Kensington W8 where 56% of all homes were worth more than £1 million.

Overseas Investors have Contributed

We must remember also that London has seen strong demand from overseas investors, especially Greeks and Italians this year due to the financial difficulties that their respective countries have faced. It is therefore little surprise that the number of property insurance quotes being taken out by overseas investors has increased.

Nick Leeming of Zoopla.co.uk has stated the following: “While most of the market is suffering from the impact of inflation, stagnant wage growth, the inability to secure mortgage finance and nervousness about the future of the economy, at the upper end of the market, cash and equity rich buyers are enjoying some of the lowest mortgage rates in recent history.”

It seems for some property owners, most of which are indeed in London, it should be a very fruitful Christmas period.

Tags: London Property Market, Property insurance, Property Insurance Quotes, Property market
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Up and Down Property Prices

Friday, December 16th, 2011

In the news this week there has been a lot of talk about property prices around the UK. Some are rising, mainly London, but most seem to be declining still.

Amongst those that have seen declining prices is Scotland. The Scottish property market has seen prices declining over the past 12 months on the whole. However this has been calculated off the back of a three month period in the summer where prices rose by a total of 1.5%. October put a stop to this however as prices then dropped by 0.1%. Despite the summer “bounce”, as it’s been called, the Scottish property market has seen prices fall by 1.4% in the 12 month period from November 2010 to November 2011.

House Price Index

This has all been documented in the LSL Acadametrics house price index.

The areas in Scotland which have seen the highest numbers of sales within the analysed time period was, unsurprisingly Glasgow, Edinburgh and Fife. The index revealed that property prices in November 2010 stood at £148,339, whereas by the end of November 2011 they had declined to £147,448.

LSL have also been explaining that their particular index is the only one that has taken into account every property transaction that took place within the twelve month period in Scotland.

Eviction Threats

This news about Scottish house prices has come in the same week as the news that thousands living in London could be facing eviction by their landlords or mortgage lenders during this Christmas period.

This has been put down to the fact that unemployment is at its highest since 1996 at 8.3%.

Homelessness charity, Shelter, has been explaining that the research that was carried out has been rather alarming, and Campbell Robb, the Chief Executive of the charity has been commenting: “As Christmas approaches, this research paints a frightening picture of thousands of families living every day with the fear of losing their home hanging over their heads. It’s sobering to see that so many communities are blighted by the risk of eviction.”

There were 12 local authorities in London boroughs that had the highest risk rates. Whilst a decent landlord insurance quote would indeed help landlords with rent arrears, it will be a very stressful situation for any landlord whose tenants are unable to afford the rent.

This is a rather grave issue and one that needs to be addressed quickly. It would truly be awful for any family or individual to lose their home at any time of the year, but especially at Christmas! A time that is traditionally charitable and giving.

Tags: Landlord Insurance, London Property Market, Rent Arrears, Scottish Property Market, Shelter
Posted in Landlord Insurance, Landlord Insurance Quote | 1 Comment »