London serviced apartment properties offer attractive investment yields as well as income and capital growth potential, British property consultants said.
'Savills forecasts capital growth for serviced apartments of 6.3 per cent per annum over the next four years, against 5.6 per cent for residential,' said Britain-based property consultant Guy Nixon, founder of Go Native, which manages serviced apartments in London.
Nixon said serviced apartments fell into the same category as residential as far as financing was concerned. 'We are seeing lending coming through at 70-30 loan-to-deposit ratio,' he added.
A number of serviced apartment blocks being offered in Canary Wharf, the City of London and at Nottingham Place were attractive, said Nixon. Total all-in costs of these investments, including site purchase, stamp duty, agency fees and legal fees, ranged from GBP4.6 million (HK$59.4 million) to GBP14.6 million, he said.
Gerald Allison, a director at property consultancy DTZ who advises clients from the mainland and Hong Kong on investments in London, agreed that the serviced-flat market was a growing sector in London.
'The supply of serviced apartments is growing significantly to fill the gap between owning an apartment for occasional use and relatively expensive, conventional hotel rooms.
