Exclusive | Hong Kong’s Kwok family joins Ballymore in £500m London property project

The Kwok family, controlling shareholders in Sun Hung Kai Properties, will build a joint venture residential-commercial project on the banks of The River Thames in East London costing £500 million (US$647 million) – the largest development by the Hong Kong company in the UK since Brexit.

The investment comes as a rising number of Hong Kong-listed companies are snapping up properties in London amid investment yields that have been compressed by soaring asset prices in Hong Kong.

Kwok Family Interests and Ballymore, the 35-year old Irish developer, have formed a 50-50 partnership and plan to build an 804-unit residential project called Goodluck Hope on a 2.7 hectare site. Due for completion in 2020, it will also provide 21,528 square feet of commercial space.

The joint plan was first submitted in January 2015 and approved by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in September 2016, according to a statement provided to the South China Morning Post.

Thomas Lam Ho-man, senior director at property consultancy Knight Frank, said investors are flocking to London because the entry level is now too high in Hong Kong.

“Prime properties in Hong Kong are much more costly than London where they achieve a better yield. More importantly, the British pound lost at least 20 per cent and will make property more affordable for Hong Kong investors,” he said.