Investors from South East Asia continue to recognise the value offered by\u00a0London property, with over 200 flocking to attend a series of property\u00a0investment seminars held by Anita Mehra and Marc von Grundherr, Directors of Benham and Reeves Residential Lettings. Anita and Marc have\u00a0just returned from their latest trip to the three powerhouses of Asia \u2013 Hong\u00a0Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and the message is clearer than ever.\u00a0The appetite for investing in London property continues to grow.<\/p>\n
Central London residential properties, particularly new-build properties, are\u00a0being snapped up by wealthy South East Asian investors and once again, we\u00a0have been overwhelmed by the interest from investors planning to purchase\u00a0buy-to-let properties,\u201d reports Marc von Grundherr. \u201cOur latest series of\u00a0property investment seminars included more presentations than ever, for\u00a0example, we held six seminars in Singapore over a single weekend to meet\u00a0demand. All guests were either new investors or existing investors planning
\nto add to their portfolio and all were serious about investing. One client we\u00a0met in Kuala Lumpur already owns 57 properties in Canary Wharf and is\u00a0planning further investments.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNew developments throughout East London, in traditionally popular areas\u00a0such as Canary Wharf, as well as in up and coming areas such as Greenwich,\u00a0continue to attract a lot of interest from investors and during our roadshows\u00a0we took on a number of new instructions for several of the latest\u00a0developments to launch.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not difficult to see why Asian investors are pouring into the London\u00a0property market,\u201d continues Marc. \u201cLondon\u2019s reputation as a safe haven for\u00a0investors, the continuing weakness of sterling (which means that Asian\u00a0buyers are effectively buying at a discount), the UK\u2019s transparent legal\u00a0system and of course, the excellent potential for capital appreciation, mean\u00a0that London\u2019s appeal just gets stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRestrictive taxation in Asian countries is another factor. In Hong Kong, for\u00a0example, a Stamp Duty of up to 20% is being imposed on the sale of\u00a0properties owned for only a short term while a buyer\u2019s Stamp Duty of 15% is\u00a0being introduced for both local and non-local companies. And in Singapore,\u00a0Stamp Duty for overseas and corporate buyers has been increased from 10%\u00a0to 15%.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn light of these moves, it comes as no surprise that the UK\u2019s liberal tax\u00a0system continues to make London property investment very attractive for\u00a0Asian investors. The recent announcement by the UK Government that it is\u00a0introducing capital gains tax (CGT) on foreign owners selling residential\u00a0property in the UK, a move designed to make the tax system fairer, seems so\u00a0far to have had little or no effect on overseas investment in the London\u00a0residential property market.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn fact, with rental demand in London remaining strong, fuelled by the\u00a0shortage of housing stock generally and the need for homes created by the\u00a0constant influx of overseas professionals relocating to London for work, we\u00a0expect demand for London property to continue to rise, a view which seems\u00a0to be shared by investors, judging by the level of interest at our roadshows.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Investors from South East Asia continue to recognise the value offered by\u00a0London property, with over 200 flocking to attend a series of property\u00a0investment seminars held by Anita Mehra and Marc von Grundherr, Directors of Benham and Reeves Residential Lettings. Anita and Marc have\u00a0just returned from their latest trip to the three powerhouses of Asia \u2013 … <\/p>\n