Gulf buyers snap up super-prime properties in stagnant London

Buyers from the Gulf have driven sales of homes priced above £15 million ($19.6 million) across central London over the past four months, according to a luxury property agency.

Almost 30 per cent of the prime properties sold have been bought by Middle East purchasers, most notably from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, according to Beauchamp Estates.

It has reported a recent flurry of transactions as potential buyers race to get deals over the line before next week’s UK government budget, which is expected to result in significant property tax changes.

Deals have been done for off-plan luxury properties at 100 Kensington and Park Modern on Bayswater Road as well as Greybrook House in Mayfair.

Yahya Swallem, a senior sales consultant at Beauchamp Estates, told The National that London property currently represents “good value” for buyers from the Middle East, many of them from a “new younger generation”.

Gulf purchasers were followed by buyers from China, the UK itself, the US and continental Europe, but Mr Swallem said it has become increasingly apparent in recent months that the Central London property market is now significantly reliant on Gulf purchasers for the sale of “trophy homes in the best addresses”.

Research by Beauchamp Estates, based on sales data from local agents and property professional network LonRes, shows that from January to June there were 27 properties sold for more than £15 million ($19.6 million) in central London. Gulf buyers spent £105 million ($137.7 million) to purchase seven (more than 25 per cent) of them. That has risen to 30 per cent between July and October. Beauchamp Estates estimate that 30 per cent of the buyers for homes costing more than £5 million ($6.5 million) are from the Gulf.

Apartments marketed at £42 million and £60 million are available at Park Modern, overlooking Hyde Park. Photo: Fenton Whelan

Where’s hot?

Mr Swallem said the purchases have switched from one to two-bed investment apartments five years ago to larger properties which will be kept for 20 years or more. This favours new build developments, rather than established areas such as Knightsbridge where buildings are older and have fewer facilities, he argued.

Mr Swallem said Belgravia and Mayfair are the neighbourhoods that are thriving, with properties being overhauled or built from scratch.

What's selling?

The final apartment by developer Fenton Whelan at Greybrook House, a Grade II listed six-storey building between Claridge’s hotel and Bonhams auctioneers in Mayfair, has sold to an internation