8 ★ FTWeekend 26 October/27 October 2019
B
rexit uncertainty hangs over
London’s luxury property
market like a fog. Since the
referendum in June 2016,
house prices in prime central
London have dropped 14 per cent,
according Savills. Meanwhile, sales are
down19percent,accordingtoLonRes.
However, despite the endless political
wrangling,somebuyersbelievetheysee
the opportunity for a Brexit bargain —
especiallyiftheyarebuyingindollars.
One US-based buyer, who asked to
remain anonymous, has just bought a
flat in Mayfair for £6m after negotiating
a discount of more than 10 per cent. He
saystheweakpound,attractiveborrow-
ing rates and overblown stories about
professionals leaving London in their
droves all contributed to his decision to
buynow.
“London is the default investment
locale, not only for the US but for the
world,” he says. “The idea that people
will pick Brussels, Frankfurt or Paris
overLondonwasmisplaced.”
The fall in the value of sterling since
the referendum has made expensive
property in London more attractive to
overseas buyers. On the currency playalone,iftheUS-basedbuyerhadpaidfor
his £6m flat in dollars in October 2015,
it would have cost him about $9.18m;
this month, the dollar amount would be
$7.8m. The buyer expects the strong
value of the dollar to fall eventually,
makinghisinvestmentworthwhile.
“In the short term the UK has been
disproportionately hurt by Brexit, but
in the long term it won’t be at all,” he
says. He intends to rent out his apart-
ment ndisexpectinga3percentyield.a
This buyer’s approach is typical of
many internationalpurchasers who
leverage the currency advantage.
New data from LonRes show that
transactions on properties in prime(Above) Five-
bedroom house
in Belgravia has
cut its original
asking price by
£1m to £8.95m;
(left) a six-
bedroom house
in Smith Square
has had its price
cut from £7.85m
to £6.95m
AlexWinship PhotographyThe Brexit
bargains
Property Overseas buyers are benefiting from the|
uncertainty and currency movements impacting the
London market. ByAleksandra Wisniewska
House Home
will be over soon,” says Ed Lewis, head
of residential development sales at
Savills. “The further away you are from
London, the less Brexit is relevant. If
you’re sitting in Hong Kong, Beijing or
Shanghai, you look at London in terms
of currency value and see it as an excit-
ingopportunity.”
Buyers do not even need to befar‘London is the default
investment cale, notlo
only for the US but forthe world’
central Londonrose 14 per cent in the
thirdquarterof2019 omparedwiththec
sameperiodlastyear.
“There is much more activity than we
were expecting in the run-up to the
Brexit deadline [ofOctober 31],” says
Rory Penn of Knight Frank. He sees
buyers taking a long-term view, espe-
cially when relocating a family to Lon-
don for the next five to 10 years. “You
can get a much better house than you
couldacoupleofyearsago,”hesays.
“I don’t think there is any rush to sell
but a lot of our buyers have been buying
this year because they believe it’s the
right time,” says Camilla Dell of buying
agency Black Brick. “Brexit is a blip — itOCTOBER 26 2019 Section:Weekend Time: 23/10/2019- 17:36 User:elizabeth.robinson Page Name:RES8, Part,Page,Edition:RES, 8, 1