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IT is no secret that Hong Kong buyers of London property traditionally focus on the central district of the city as their main area of interest.

But a fresh trend has developed among many new immigrants to Britain: having lived in the capital for a while, many choose to move to areas known as the commuter belt.

  In living in such outlying areas as Guildford, Keston, Epson, Hazelmere, St Albans, High Wycombe and even further out in Oxford and Brighton, buyers can receive more for their property dollar than they can in London.

 With properties in central London under GBP200,000 (about HK$2.4 million) increasingly difficult to find, many vendors are selling or letting out their city properties and then moving out to take advantage of the many deals in the commuter belt.

 David Oyler, a residential property consultant with Richard Ellis in London, said by living in the commuter belt, many Hong Kong vendors liked the fact they could get more for their money as well as additional space, a garden and often a double-car garage.

 'If you concentrate on an area like Guildford [40 minutes by train to central London], you have a complete mixture [of properties] in these towns.

 'You have your modern housing estates where a national house builder like Bovis might buy an acreage site and build 30 houses. They can be quite cheap. In fact, you are probably talking of under GBP100,000 for a three-bedroom house with a small front garden and a fair-sized back garden.

 'But then you can move up to a period-type individual property - typically a four-to five-bedroom house on 0.1 hectares or larger - that would be GBP200,000 and upward,' he said.

  If you who want a really nice period house set three to four miles outside the main suburb of Guildford in what would be termed countryside - that would range from GBP350,000 upwards.'     Another area where Hong Kong buyers are purchasing is Oxford.

 Nigel Clark, managing director of International Homebrokers, a Hong Kong-based firm specialising in central London, British and Australian properties, said that Oxford was popular mainly with buyers whose children were attending one of the many universities in the area.

 'Oxford is less than an hour [to central London] on a fast train and it appeals to people whose children are going into tertiary education, a form of university education.

 'If the kids are going to Oxford or London University or Manchester or York, you have a situation where Hong Kong parents will buy property for their children to live in with other students who would tend to pay the mortgage,' he said.

 Almost the same distance from London to Oxford is Brighton. Only 51 minutes by train to central London and 30 minutes by car to Gatwick airport, Brighton and nearby Hove have some amazing bargains on the market.

 Long a popular seaside resort with holidaymakers, Brighton and the southeast of England have been hit by recession in recent years.

  As a result, the high unemployment in the area has caused a number of repossessions, creating a demand for rental properties.

 Russell Tyre, of the Hong Kong-based R. D. A. Estates Asia, said aside from a number colleges for foreign students in the areas and excellent transportation links to London, homes that were once GBP275,000 could now be had for GBP225,000. He said the real bargains were in rental properties.

 'Our concept is why spend GBP400,000 on one property in London when you can buy 10 GBP40,000-properties and earn more money in rental. Plus, if your one property is not rented for say two or three months, it can become quite a costly affair.

 'Whereas you would only require seven out of the 10 cheaper properties [to pay] when demand for such properties is very high in the Brighton and Hove area. You would be in a self-funding situation,' Mr Tyre said.

 As an estate agent that does everything from sourcing the property to redecorating to managing the property once it has been let, Mr Tyre uses the example of a studio apartment for sale in Brighton at GBP24,500. Estimating a rental of GBP75 to GBP80 a week, this represents a gross return of 13-18 per cent.

 'One client of ours bought four properties, three studios and a one-bedroom flat for GBP98,500. He receives GBP325 a week rental - nowhere else can compare,' he said.



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