Million pound homes in the South-East being bought by foreigners

Permalink: Million pound homes in the South-East being bought by foreigners
by Kay Murchie

According to research by Knight Frank, the estate agents, nearly 50% of all country homes in the south east of England valued at £5 million or more are being purchased by foreigners.

In the 12 months to September, 42% of purchases of country homes were bought by investors from overseas. This record level implies that Russian entrepreneurs and tycoons from the Middle East are spreading their influence beyond central London as they look to imitate the British way of life.

In 2005, the amount of overseas buyers was less than 25%. In Scotland, almost 33% of properties valued at £5 million and over are now being purchased by foreigners.

Across the UK, nearly three quarters of country homes worth over £10 million have been bought by wealthy investors from abroad over the last 12 months. Liam Bailey of Knight Frank, believes this figure will increase to around 90% over the next few years.

Mr Bailey said this trend is only going to increase, with demand being driven by buyers from the commodity-rich economies of the Middle East and former Soviet Union, this is where the money is.

The majority of overseas buyers were primarily interested in prime central London or locations close to the M25 until recently.

Although a swathe of land to the southwest of the capital remains the most popular place for foreigners, an increasing amount are looking further afield to locations such as Hampshire, the Cotswolds and Cornwall.

Rupert Sweeting of Frank Knight believes the Chinese are going to be the next group of people purchasing country mansions as they have already started looking for properties in London.