An Assessment of the Impact of Overseas Buyers on the Pricing and Utilisation of Prime Residential Properties in Central London

Foreign direct ownership of residential property in central London has accelerated over the past 10 years, with over 60% of new stock in 2011 being acquired by international buyers (Drivers Jonas Deloite, 2011). Prime residential prices in the top three boroughs rose by 49% from 2009 to 2012, which Knight Frank (2012) principally attributed to demand from overseas buyers. The market in parts of London has moved away from ties to the domestic economy, as the Institute of Public Policy Research notes that overseas demand is a potential force shifting London's housing market away from an anchor in local wages and the traditional boundaries of affordability (McCarvill et al, 2012). There is anecdotal evidence the new wave foreign owned properties have low occupancy levels and therefore do little to aid the housing shortage in central boroughs or support local businesses, leading to calls from Institute of Policy Research (McCarvill et al, 2012) and The Smith Institute (Haywood, 2012) for government intervention. There is limited publically available data on the utilisation of overseas owned prime residential in London, which is bridged in this research with quantitative data collated from surveys of all councillors in the three prime residential boroughs and qualitative data from interviews with professions engaged in residential development, sale and management. Findings consider the result of inward investment on prime residential values and the changes in economic activity in areas with the highest levels of foreign ownership. This research will be help to help inform policies on future inward investment.ReferencesDrivers Jonas Deloite. (2011). London Offices Crane Survey Heywood, A. (2012). London for Sale? The Smith InstituteMcCarvill,P. et al). (2012). Affordable Capital? Housing in London. IPPRKnight Frank. (2012). London Residential Review Autumn 2012.