Far East ‘very keen’ to buy UK property

Friday, April 08, 2011 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories: Property & Construction | Tags: property, Clare Hartnell, Nicholas Cowell, MIPIM, Property Week

London in particular is a booming market for inward property investment as buyers from Hong Kong and the Far East are snapping up prime retail and residential properties. The weak pound is making UK property especially attractive at the moment, as Clare Hartnell, Head of Property and Construction for Grant Thornton, reports in her recent interview at real estate conference, MIPIM.

Clare Hartnell was interviewed alongside Nicholas Cowell, head of the Cowell Group, by Property Week’s editor-in-chief Giles Barrie.

In the video, they discuss where the interest lies for property at the moment, the current state of the finance markets and incoming money from the Middle and Far East.

Clare Hartnell says:

“At the moment, quite a lot of people are interested in trophy assets – that’s not just from a UK perspective but overseas buyers coming in. They want London, they want prime, they want trophy and they want names. The London market is very different from the rest of the UK but the money is there. The big issues is finding the funding if you don’t have the money to borrow.”

She goes on to note the trend for buyers from the Far East seeking opportunities to cash in:

“They are very keen on buying in the UK. It is a booming market. I’ve seen the balance of power changing towards that market, with foreign exchange rates the way they are at the moment, it makes London very attractive.”

Earlier this year, estate agent Knight Frank also reported that 61 nationalities had bought property in London in the year to February 2011, a record high.

Watch the full MIPIM interview from Property Week.  

For further information, visit our Property or Emerging Markets page.

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