Luxe Property Group

With the end of last month seeing Teresa May trigger Article 50, marking the beginning of Brexit negotiations between the EU and the UK, questions of how this impacts the UK’s property scene, and in particular London, are beginning to arise and be answered. At Luxe Property Group, we love the opportunity to weigh-in and share our insights, especially when the property world may seem unstable.

The past three years have seen London house prices increase by a staggering 37% according to current Savills figures, in comparison to the 16% increase outside of London. However, the post-Brexit vote atmosphere the past few months has resulted in an air of uncertainty for those on the buying-end, hence leading to a decline of the volume of properties being purchased in and around London in comparison to the wider England and Wales region. Moreover, some of the most desirable and higher priced areas in West Central London – Chelsea, Kensington, Hammersmith and Fulham, have seen a decrease in value more pronounced than that of outer London counterparts. Although this may seem to paint a fairly bleak picture, we agree with Mark Ridley, chief executive of Savills’ UK and Europe division, who acknowledges “The seismic shock of the Brexit vote brought UK transactional activity in many cases to a juddering halt… but life in the property world goes on.”

On that note, we think it’s at least of equal importance to highlight the positive impact that Brexit will have on London’s property scene. For high-end property developers like us, we can see that whilst the pound remains weak against the dollar, London is a very favourable place for investment from overseas. Particularly whilst property prices in highly desirable locations, such as Kensington and Chelsea, remain lower than that of previous years. For those looking into investing in London – now is the time.

It’s also important to remember the fluidity of the property market. Property prices are often first to be hit hardest by any economic change, especially in a major cosmopolitan city. Regardless of whether in the EU or not, London still remains an economic metropolis, we predict that inner city London prices will begin to rise as the future of the UK becomes secured. Already, housebuilders’ share prices that dropped by 37% after the Brexit vote have risen to just 15.6% below pre-vote level, as well as, real estate investment trusts, which lost 22%, now returning to only 10% lower than pre-vote level. Evidently, the post-Brexit property market isn’t in as dire state as popular opinion makes out. Without a doubt, the best thing one can do is to take advantage of the change in the London property scene.